Defiance
by Statchar
Summary: Formerly named 'Off Track'. Naruto sends himself to the past intent on saving his parents and stopping the masked man once and for all. Instead he goes entirely off course from where he original destination. Pairings somewhat undecided.
1. A little Off

**Important update.**

**A/N: .I have rewritten the entirety of Off Track, and every chapter have been replaced already. You may read them if you want but if you don't, I have short summaries completed below for convenience. **

**There are differences but otherwise follows the original chapters. (If anyone remembers them, haha). I've made some non-sensible choices that I would like to fix. I've increased the quality a bit, changing a few things. Below is a quick summaries of what has changed, or you may go back and reread it.**

**List of changes below.**

**Another time traveler. Killer Bee, has not appeared in story yet.**

**Naruto is 17. Wardrobe change. Red hooded jacket, sleeves are orange.**

**Mikoto is 16**

**Nagato is 10, Konan is 13, Yahiko is 13. **

**Naruto keeps his name. Made Naruto less 'idiotic'. Disturbed by failures. A 'disability' more time needed to recover, tires more easily. result of time travel.**

**Kurama is more Sassy, less interruptive. **

**Fixed formatting for easier read, grammar, spelling errors. Note I might have missed some.**

**Summaries of chapters. List of changes. **

**Chapter 1: Appearance change, old clothing too worn out. Naruto is drained by usage of time travel, lower lifeforce, chakra. Slowly recovers for x amount of days. Killer Bee also traveled back with Naruto. Meet's Konan, Figures out he's in wrong time, wrong place. Panic attack. **

**Chapter 2. Encounter's Konan, undertakes her as ally to bring peace. Go to town, it gets attacked. flee and meet with Yahiko. **

**Chapter 3. Nearly unchanged, Infiltrates town but does not take any jutsu. Naruto battles Mikoto, and flees. Naruto takes her sword, forgot to give it back. Mikoto learns shadowclone from him, with aid of her eyes.**

**Chapter 4. Nearly unchanged. Konan idly thinks about Naruto's goals. Mikoto reflects on lasts night's events, finds Naruto's back pack. Konan decides to join in on Naruto and Yahiko's dream. Naruto reflects on an occurrence with his father.**

**Chapter 5. Cave, Naruto teaches Konan how to cook. Starts teaching the two on how to access chakra. Shows them Sasuke's headband, that he still kept on himself. Konan makes him a paper crane. **

**Chapter 6. Nearly unchanged, only how Naruto rescues Mikoto. Mikoto runs into ambush, Finds Akira, stays behind. Fends them off before Akira returns, only to killed and herself captured. Naruto encounters the shinobi and rescues her.**

**Chapter 7:The most altered chapter out of all. Mikoto's and Naruto's exchange is drastically different. Recommend rereading.**

**Chapter 8: Same with Chapter 8, Mikoto and Naruto interact more, much differently than original.**

**Chapter 9: A new chapter, read it if you want.**

**Anyways, enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

He felt drained, physically, spiritually, just everything actually. He felt the rush, being thrown somewhere at high speeds. Feeling the pulses of pain shoot up his body, the stinging and burning sensations appeared across multiple points on him.

He knew he came to a stop. The seemingly simple task of opening his eyes to inspect his surroundings was a monumental objective.

Naruto's eye's fluttered open. Like timid agonizingly slow opening of doors. It was then when he realized that he was soaked to the bone. Rain had been pouring down on him. The obvious thing was that he had been laying down in the mud for hours, unless it was raining hell.

Drained. Was what he felt. He lifted his head, to inspect his body, but that act was too tiresome to attempt anymore than a few seconds.

He was content with simply staring at the bright grey sky, a few rays of golden light escaping through.

He had been told that this jutsu was dangerous, too unpredictable. An attempt might mean his life. It was worth it, just for a small chance, no matter how pitiful it was. It was not like he had anything to return too. Killer Bee took that chance too, he must be in a similar state somewhere nearby.

He felt only capable of simple non-demanding movements. Flinches of toes and fingers or brief second movement from his legs or arms. He never felt so exhausted in his life, feeling nothing came close to the fatigue he felt now.

He heard the patter of rain land on his forehead, rest was out of the question. Yet, if he fell asleep would he die? It might be possible, yet he didn't care. He might drifted in and out of unconsciousness, but he would never fully know that.

He felt a raging battle of wills begin to settle within him. To merely lie still and accept oblivion? Or fight with nearly every last ounce of his strength? One of them seemed such a wonderful prospect. He continued to entertain the idea.

All this thinking made him tired than ever. He was in a dream-like state, debating whether anything else was real. A single word formed continuously, act. Act.

"Kurama...Kurama..." The only sound was the thunderous roars in the simmering skies above.

The melancholic sky shifted. The overall grayness formed into a steel ceiling, tinted red for whatever reason. The yellow rays turned into the rusted pipes sprawling the sides of the walls. It took a moment to discern that he was inside the giant fox's seal. He was still laying in the water and even he felt tired inside. The giant gate was still open, that unspoken form of trust between them.

He crawled toward the gate, until the dark within was vaguely illuminated for him. There he saw Kurama laid within, and even he knew that the proud nine-tails himself was drained of chakra. Deep, loud breathing was heard, a state of sleep. Yet, when he called out there was no answer.

He reached a hand out. "Just...A little chakra...enough for me to get somewhere" He wasn't sure if Kurama gifted it for him, or whether he took it. Yet, he felt himself absorbing the small source of chakra. A pleasant source pooled inside of him.

His mind cleared slightly from the source of energy. He was cold, shivering from the all the time spent in the gravel and rain. The sky seemed darker than before, his surroundings only partially lit. He was near a wall of rock, and observed a small crawl space where he might recover for the time being.

He needed chakra, and weakly reflected upon absorbing Natural energy. He decided against it however, feeling that the pitiful amount of chakra he had would be overwhelmed from the more powerful unstable source.

He attempted to move his limbs, finding them more compliant than before. He was missing no limbs nor did he feel any different than before; Other than the general heaviness. He could only ponder about the mystery about why he felt so empty. He should've regained some chakra by now, perhaps Kurama being out had something to do with it. Even his Uzumaki genes should've helped, if his mother seemed so certain of it.

He tried to stand, but that was an impossibility. "Come on...You've faced harder stuff before"

He couldn't however, and knew it was precious waste of his energy. Crawling however, was something in the realm of possibility. He committed to a slow crawl towards a safe heaven, to get dry and recover. One hand placed after the another. his feet and knees digging into crackling gravel.

He was unconcerned about how much time had passed when he reached the small crawl space. Hardly large enough to cover him and the backpack he had. The small hole in the wall was dry however.

He tiredly discarded his soaked clothes and opened his pack to find numerous supplies for different situations. He pulled out a thermal blanket, along with a special coated stick to light a fire that would last for hour and provide some little heat. He forced himself to snack on some food he had brought, even that made him tired.

When he finished, he devoted himself to rest. Sometimes, he would awake in pitch black, where nothing could be seen, an all consuming darkness. Only, the sounds of falling rain made him at ease; reassuring him that he hadn't passed on. There would be light out at times, and he would continue to eat whatever food he found to regain his strength. He wasn't certain if hours passed, or whether it was days. The only thing he could discern was that he slept a lot.

Each time he awoke, he still felt that perpetual exhaustion. Much like the rain, which gave no indication of stopping. It might've stopped at some points in his sleep only to resume, it didn't help his passage of time. Every time he awoke, he found himself less delirious. It became apparent that he was alone, he saw no sight of his fellow companion. '_Damn, Where are you Octopops?' _

Then, finally, Kurama stirred from his slumber.

"Naruto..."

Finding himself in the familiar walls once again. One of his last remaining companions, a giant nine-tailed fox.

"Hey, you're awake" Naruto tiredly reflected. He was sitting down within the seal staring at Kurama.

It gave a massive yawn, bearing it's fangs as it did so. "How long?"It stretched its limbs out, but still stayed in the same position.

He didn't know how to answer that. "Fuck if I know, I've been waking and passing out, It could've been days or hours."

Kurama looked perplexed, his deep imposing voice bellowing in the air. "You've got hardly any chakra, the same could be said of myself...How much do you think?"

"It might've been two days, at the very least" He replied.

"If it's been that long we should've been back to full power" Hearing the damaged pride in his voice was almost funny if it didn't affect him too.

"I know! It's like, I don't know, my chakra recovery had been disrupted. but we're still getting some of it back, more slowly maybe. I was so exhausted I probably would've died If I didn't take some of your chakra to get inside here"

He was quiet then, and Kurama seemed to know a question he was dying to ask. There was a silence before it roared loudly.

"It better have fucking worked"

"I hope so too" His mind was bothered however. If it truly had been a few days since he arrived, he still felt the chakra exhaustion. It was like overworking himself to the state of just plainly passing out. The difference was that he still felt it days after, when normally a day of rest was enough.. "You said it would painless, It wasn't that at all"

"I said dying would've been painless" Kurama spoke again. "The jutsu required colossal amounts of chakra, We also heavily distorted time and space. Those are some possible factors with some consequences. It could have taken some of your vitality and with the space and time disrupted our chakra regeneration. Theories obviously. What's expected with lower vitality is shortened age expectancy and stamina"

"Oh...Well that sucks" What else was he supposed to respond with? There was nothing said for a long while as he processed this information. The more he thought about his predicament just made it feel funny.

He chuckled once, in relief, and many other mixtures of emotion. It evolved into a full blown laughter. A deep throaty, almost maniacal kind of laugh. It continued until his chest hurt and it got difficult to breathe. He started to pant until Kurama broke the silence.

"I think it might have fucked up your mind too kid"

"No, No...Heh, I'm fine...Just glad" He looked over to the rain following chaotically to the earth. He sighed sorrowfully. Flashes of those days before echoed in his mind. He had placed a self-imposed mission on himself, now he had to make certain that he would complete it.

"Even after that, there's nothing that will stop me, If it's true then I'll just adapt to it. You know what Kurama, Thank you, There's nothing I can do to appreciate what you helped accomplished"

Kuaama just looked at him, his ear twitching."Shut up...Idiot"

He still heard the gratitude and welcome in his voice.

Kurama also detested the Genjutsu placed world. It sat wrong with the both of them. The plan was to stop Obito when he revealed himself when he broke Kurama out when he was born.

The day began to darken, signaling the end of day. "We'll go when it get brighter out" He didn't get a response, but it didn't matter. He had to find a specific date first before any more rest could be made. How much time he had left to wait.

His opened his eyes to find that daylight had broke out. He had promised himself, so he had no choice but to force himself to get up.

His black and orange jacket had completely been decimated in the war. So he wore a hooded red jacket, A thick orange stripe on his sleeves. He had taken it from an empty store, he lucked out since it had a hood, protection from the seemingly unending rain.

He shuffled through his bag, finding the week's worth of food he had stored were practically gone. It might have been an indicator at how much he slept, or just how much he ate. That wasn't counting on the ramen he brought with him, which he had a few for breakfast.

He walked out, still feeling tender and exhaustion. He spotted some tracks from where he had landed. He could see some marks of the several places he had fallen and had skipped across from where he originally landed.

He found a road nearby, and decided to take a random direction and set himself on the path. "Where's Octopops?"

_'Maybe back where he was at this time, you wouldn't exist yet, still in your mother's belly'_

"I don't want to hear about that" He shivered and focused on walking. "We'll have to meet up with him eventually somehow."

The longer the time passed by he noticed, the more he grew anxious. The landscape, and the weather all pointed out that he wasn't anywhere near the Land of Fire. It was all too unfamiliar, he couldn't recognize any sort of surroundings.

It became apparent that he did not wind up anywhere near the Leaf Village. Especially after when he saw a sign that pointed towards a town he didn't recognize. He rubbed the nape of his neck, wondering how much time he had left until Obito made his appearance.

He pressed on towards the site of the town, to find any indication on his whereabouts. He once again heard the rumbling of the thunder overhead...which oddly, didn't really sound like thunder at all. He focused on the sound, the unnatural length and randomness of it. His anxiety strengthened, realizing that it was distant explosions sounding beyond.

His pace quickened, slow steps into a jog. The faster he got to the town and figured out where he was the better. His eye sight caught a scuffle being exchanged in the center of the road. A smaller figure with a more larger one. He sprinted as fast as he can towards the two. The rain gliding passed him.

"No! It's mine!" Hearing the cries of a girl. The larger one harshly kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. He ransacked the pack that had fallen, clutching it desperately.

"Get the hell away from her!" As Naruto flung a small stone directly at the figure and hitting him squarely in the head. He was knocked over, yelling obscenities. His picked himself back up, clutching his skull as he stared at the direction the stone was thrown.

Naruto placed himself into a stance in preparation for a fight. Suddenly, the guy cowered and ran for his life, discarding the pack in his haste.

He took a deep breath, feeling almost slightly worn out from the running and sprinting. A fight with another shinobi would likely tire him out. Confident that the person wasn't going to return, he walked past the whimpering girl to pick up the pack.

He found nothing of interest in the pack, some empty wrappers and an half full water bottle. He closed it and returned to the girl and dropped it in front of her. She wore a large dark blue hood that hid her face.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly. She made no attempt to speak and only the rain was left to fill the void.

"Y-yes" So quietly he almost didn't catch it.

"Good, I got your bag back" He kneeled down and shook it in front of her to prove his point. She made no attempt to grab it, and continued to sit in the mud. He rubbed the nape of his neck, wondering what he should do. The right thing was to ensure her safety before he continued on his way.

If there was something that mostly cheered him up, it was ramen. It had been a while since he had eaten, and the girl might know the specific date. There was still a large distance from the town, so it would certainly shorten the time.

"Hey, do you want to gave some hot ramen?" He pulled up two cups of ramen, extending one so that she could see it. Having chosen not to reveal herself. "That always makes my day, might just be me though"

He had heard a gasp, and a flash of her blue hair appeared briefly. She reached out to grab it, only to hesitate "Are...Are you sure" Hearing the anticipation and fear in her voice made him frown.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" He asked incredulously Still, ramen was to be eaten with some hot water. "Come on, let's get out of the rain and eat this"

He inspected his surroundings and found the nearest tree large enough to shield them from the rain. It was close enough to the road. She was still staying in the same spot as he made a small fire to boil the water. Her gaze looking to where he was.

"Aren't ya coming?" He asked, she picked up her bag and made her way.

He heated up a metal canteen bottle he carried to boil it. All his gear was made for camping out, to hide away until the time was right. He also had some Ryo to replenish them. Up until October tenth.

She sat across from him as they waited for the water to boil. Another strained silence filled between the duo. "What's your name? Mine's Naruto"

"Konan" She replied. He knew that name, Nagato's comrade. It was a coincidence he guessed.

She didn't seem to be much of a talker either so he asked another question. "So where are your parents?"

"They're gone." She replied somberly. "I'm alone" She added silently, before he got the chance to ask another question.

"She's an orphan like you. hmm..." Kurama stated.

He started to feel this uneasy looming feeling settle over him. The things he saw and hints that didn't occur in his own time. _'Stealing from kids? Random explosions? Orphans? What is this?'_

The water finally finished and he shakily filled their ramen cups. He was hesitant to ask his next question.

"Seems like war to me." Hearing the snarky reply from Kurama. Which wasn't very appreciated.

"War?" He questioned aloud, more to Kurama than to Konan, who nodded her head in response. Another, longer, strained silence.

"Do you know the date?"He asked, fearfully. She heard her mumble it, and he chose not to believe it. Yet everything pointed to the contrary, it was only confirmed when Konan pulled her hood back, revealing her facial features. He'd recognized her anywhere, her features were less pronounced, less mature than her older counterpart. There was no mistaking that they were both the same. Her clear amber eyes along with the short blue hair.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

His stomach dropped, His breathing began to go ragged, quick and fast. His vision began to blur, darkening. He felt his own despair and panic. All chaotically swimming around in his head far too fast for him to handle.

He mumbled an answer, one he wasn't exactly sure of. He knew this feeling, one that had happened to him before.

"Naruto, You need to calm down" Hearing Kurama shouting loudly. He barely registered it.

They had traveled way too far. Year's before he was supposed to be born, it wasn't even close. Panic continued to grip him. It was like his final act of failure.

"You moron, we can still accomplish everything we set out to do"

His words helped slightly, yet the non-sensible thoughts continued to race through his brain. He attempted to fight it, taking deep breaths to combat it. "We can still do it, We can..." He repeated like a mantra.

...

His heart still beat feverously, he was exhausted once again. Sleep was what he desired the most right now.

"Now that your pitiful human emotions calmed down, you should follow that girl. The one with rinnegan will eventually show up. We will change things eventually if we do"

He couldn't particularly think clearly, so he was thankful for Kurama's guidance. "Okay, I got it. Like everything will never happen right?"


	2. Extensive

**Chapter 2**

Time had certainly passed that's for sure, whether or not he cared was up in the air. He had laid down on the grass, merely listening to whatever sounds that were being made. Like the smooth applause of thunder, the droplets hitting the ground, or Konan snacking on her second cup of ramen.

She ate heartedly, eating the noodles with gusto. He might've been happy about that if it wasn't obvious that she was starving. She looked rather content with stuffing her face with food.

He faced the sky again, the occasional drop that landed on his face that the tree couldn't block. He had spoken at length with Kurama about various subjects. Because of the massive inaccuracy of the time traveling technique, as well as the huge requirement of chakra, using it again would likely make their situation worse than it was.

With the absence of Killer Bee and the current state of war. It was likely that the Eight tails container wasn't anywhere near his village.

"So Konan? How old are you?" He asked.

"Thirteen"

It was a bit surprising. _'Jeez, were we that small when I was her age?' _ He distinctly remembered being one of the shortest one's before he traveled with the perverted sage.

"Oh, well I'm seventeen, well, very recently too"

"That's nice, you're practically grown up huh?" She asked.

He looked over to her, eating the last the ramen she held. "I guess, but you're older than your age right?"

She looked down at her soup, ignoring his question. He was correct however, even his 4th Shinobi war made feel much older than he was. He was a participant, and some of the things he had witnessed would never leave his mind.

He was a shinobi however, from what little he had known Konan and the others were just plain civilians. An orphan from the war.

"Do you want some juice and another cup of ramen?" He asked, finally sitting up. She smiled slightly.

_'A bit weird...'_ The Konan he knew was significantly more serious, filled with even more loss and hardships. He could never have pictured her smiling.

He brought out the ramen and the last juice box for Konan, heating up more water for his favorite food.

"It's been so long since I ate this much, Juice too, I could never get this." She commented rather happily. It was almost a shock to him, Nagato had described their conditions. All the death, the orphans, the lack of food. It was different to witness it firsthand.

He ate to merely settle his stomach.

"So Konan, were you heading towards that town?" He asked, the rain had finally settled in its ferocity. There was the slight misty rain, but that was the best that the Land of Rain could do.

"I was" She answered hesitantly.

"How about we go together? Two is always better than one..." He looked forward, towards where the town lay. He guessed he had to lie, telling people he was from the future would give some unwanted attention. If anyone would have believed him.

She looked perplexed at the question. "We just met?"

"Sure we did, We're both orphans. So we both already understand each other a bit..."He looked around awkwardly. "I mean, I have this dream I want to fulfill. It took a big back step, and I have a small idea on where to start. You see, I want the world to live in peace, I'll do whatever in my power to accomplish that ideal, but I really can't do it alone. So I'll need comrades, people I can trust and help me"

"You want to create peace? No fighting?"She had a odd look in her face.

"Definitely, I'm no moron-"

_"_Hopefully" He ignored Kurama's remark.

"-Doing things on my own will be impossible"

"Why are you asking me?"She asked.

"Well, to start, I have this good feeling about you, I think you'd be a really skilled kunoichi" Not much of a feeling if he knew about it. He had heard of her skill by some who had seen her. She was also a part of the Akatsuki.

"So Konan...Would you like to learn how to become a Kunoichi, to fight and defend yourself. To join me in trying bring peace and understanding to this world?"

"I'm thankful for what you did, really. I have nothing against you, it's just I'd much rather not trust every person I meet. Even though I just did accept your food." She looked like she was ashamed of herself.

_'How desperation pushes you. Cautious, Smart, probably more so than you' _Hearing Kurama comment.

"That's exactly what I mean, You're smart, it's how you survive. Hell, I got lucky I got someone to teach me how to fight. I'm extending the same courtesy the old man gave me"

"You want to teach me how to fight?"She asked.

"Yeah, even if you don't want to help me find cooperation between everyone, that's okay too. You can go whenever you like"

She was in deep thought. "I know it's very silly to ask, but can you promise me that? That you'll stop all this fighting?"

"That's my word, I can never allow myself to back out on it. I know you don't trust me just yet, but I sincerely hope we can be friends eventually. Friends always have each other's back" He said rather proudly.

She stared for a long while. "I guess...There always have to be some sort of trust, even in yourself to get something done right? "

He smiled. "Well, then, how about we get going towards the town then?"

* * *

><p>Naruto looked around as he walked through the town, the market had little number of people going through. The town was moderately sized, probably housing several thousand people. It seemed like Ame like to compact their towns, as many buildings were several stories high.<p>

He looked into his bag, which he had filled with food along with Konan's. He pocketed the rest of his money into his own frog wallet. _'This money will last us a little while'_. He thought of the possibilities of how to obtain more food later on. Apparently no one was hiring or looking for help, as an orphan was kicked out of the store by a shopkeeper.

The orphan had complained that it was the last place to try and make money. Other shops seemed to be closing, from lack of business or moving somewhere safer. He wanted to help but Kurama had said to leave him be, since sooner or later they too would be in that position. They would have to steal when they ran out.

He enjoyed a half of a popsicle, the other half he had given to Konan. It was a slightly expensive to even buy.

"I don't remember how sweets tasted like" She said rather happily.

He looked around the town he was in, it was in pretty bad shape. The war hadn't reached here yet, but the numerous homeless, refugees and orphans was staggering when they had first entered, they seemed to have set up camp at the edge of town. It was much less so when they entered the market district.

_'The 4th war was much different than this...'_ He cursed at his laziness over not paying attention at the academy, he only really paid attention to his father's exploits, which only happened in the 3rd shinobi war. He recalled Nagato saying that the war was waged only for money and expanding territory and that Ame was at the epicenter at the three warring nations.

Some Ame shinobi passed by, looked fidgety and nervous as they looked around quickly. It made him anxious, knowing that he held the hidden leaf headband in his own pack.

There was no way he was going to get rid of it, a precious gift from Iruka. Even if the original cloth was wrecked, the metal band had sentimental value.

_'Okay, Find Yahiko and Nagato and then the perverted sage, then...'_ Well, he supposed he could cross that bridge when he got to that stage.

He had also bought a small tent for Konan, stored within a sealing scroll. He yawned, it was nearing dusk as the orange in this distance showed. He and Konan were nearly outside the town. He spotted many beggars and camping refugees along the outside walls of the village.

He stopped, seeing the tree line in the distance. He stood directly outside the gates, and a feeling crawled up his spine. The sobbing of a toddler stopped, and all he heard was his own breathing. Konan questioned him, but he couldn't hear it.

He saw several Ame shinobi standing guard over the refugees suddenly casting glances towards the tree line.

He heard the branches being swept aside, the piercing of leaves. There was many, straight and with a target in mind. A volley of kunai and ninja tools pierced through the brush of the forest. He spotted the trailing pieces of paper behind them. hissing ferociously. Shinobi leapt out from the trees and were already making their way.

There was so many innocents around him, all about to be caught in between. He didn't have to think about it, he acted upon instinct, to protect them.

He called upon his companion's chakra, and he felt the power swell within him. He extended his arms, a larger and further reaching limbs appeared, catching the thrown kunai.

Remembering the smaller and untrained Konan. He turned to her, shouting to run. Her eyes wide open, she flinched from the violent explosions and he felt the vibrations course through his bones.

Muted screams pierced the air, and the people began to flee for their lives. Running through the gate that was present. He saw Konan beginning to follow the crowd before he turned his attention to the trees.

His shut off the connection to Kurama's chakra as a shinobi reached him. He ducked beneath an attempted slash. Naruto kicked him in the ribs and he flew back in the attacking forces ranks. Three more replaced the one and engaged him.

He went pale when he saw their head bands. The leaf symbol engraved on their steel plates.

Defending himself, he swiftly and skillfully evaded a punch before delivering an elbow hit to his attacker's face. He tripped an another one with a sweeping kick. On his own knee, he captured a fist aimed for him, and he was quickly caught in a struggle. He broke free by kneeing him in the stomach.

Before anything else could be done he was launched away by a jet of water. Catching himself in the air, he rolled on the hard concrete road before he quickly used his momentum for a running start. He shook his dizziness away as sprinted away. He looked behind him, some Leaf shinobi trying to intercept. The pitiful amount of guards were already overwhelmed, but more Ame shinobi came to help. His pursuers were stopped by the reinforcements.

He sprinted, reaching a decent speed as he passed by panicked civilians trying to distance themselves over the inevitable battle over the town. Naruto desperately searched for Konan as he heard many explosions sound around him. Some Leaf shinobi had already infiltrated, engaged in a battle and causing destruction around them.

Her wellbeing was his priority. He felt the blood flow quickly in his veins as adrenaline coursed through him. He already saw several people laying motionless on the streets, explosions echoing destroying his surroundings, rubble falling from above as they struck several innocents. He saw the leaping forms of shinobi jumping over the roofs of buildings. The wail of an alarm blasted through speakers hung around the streets, adding to the chaos.

He shielded his face as an explosion sent debris firing across the street. Children and villagers alike screamed in terror as they ran away from the conflict, only to meet more ninja clashing with one another.

He heard a roar, crackling and crumbling as he noticed a building began to lean vicariously. The crowed began to disperse near the leaning frame of concrete, several people stumbled and fell. The building shadowing over them as it tumbled.

He raced ahead, creating shadow clones to rescue them. He hastily grabbed one of the people that fell. He held on to an old man as he barely escaped the mighty crash. It caused a tempest of dust and he could barely see as he raced out of it.

Naruto set the old man on his feet and felt the memories of his shadow clones enter. The others were safe and he didn't bother waiting for the thanks from the elderly man before trying once more to look for Konan.

Racing by several streets, before he finally spotted her. She was picking herself off the ground and someone her height beckoned to her by an alley way. He quickly came and picked her up. She was surprised to see him before turning to the other kid.

"Come on, I know a good way out of the village!" He shouted, the street they were on was already clearing. "Hurry, before someone spots us"

He definitely knew him, at least his face. A person he was looking for and had technically fought on one occasion.

"Let's go, Konan" He ushered her towards the boy he knew was named Yahiko.

* * *

><p>"It's a sewer, yeah, but we should be able to get out safely through here" The orange haired boy explained. He led the way with a small flash light through the darkness. He heard some voices echo in the tunnels.<p>

"Don't worry, those are some people that I helped earlier. It's like a maze down here, so I made some signs that pointed the way out" Gesturing towards an example. "I was bored a lot so..."

_'Ha, these kids are clever, no wonder they survived' _Kurama commented.

Naruto heard the vibrations made above. The two younger ones he was with showed their nervousness in subtle ways. Their shallow breathing and constant looking over the slightest noise.

He kept his senses on the lookout for any potential attackers. They slowly trudged through the muck and pathways. He definitely avoided touching the walls or anything in particular.

"Where's your pack, Naruto?"

"Huh?" Raising his shoulders, only to find the weight he carried was gone. He paled in his realization that he had lost it."Damn it, that had nearly everything we had"

He clenched his fists in anger. "I must have lost it" He muttered several more curses as they walked.

It wasn't much longer when he heard the constant dripping of rain hitting the sewer they were in. "This is it" When they finally stopped, an arrow pointed upwards. A ladder was beside it, leading to the grey sky above.

He jumped up, landing outside and inspected his surroundings. Just a grassy field with some several pairs of foot prints leading towards who knows where.

There was the distinct lack of sound from the direction of the town. The obvious was that the fighting had reached its conclusion.

Hearing the clinking of the ladder being used as he waited above. He helped Konan from out of the tube, along with Yahiko himself.

"Thanks" He said, still clutching his hands. He smiled and shook his hand in greeting. "Name's Yahiko"

He was shorter, around Konan's age, wearing a large grey overcoat to protect him from the elements. He had a back pack that he carried.

"Naruto" He replied, shaking his hand too. "Let's get the hell away from here before we do anything else right?" He nodded, and Yahiko led the way to the nearest road.

* * *

><p>Naruto roused himself from sleep. He looked over the sleeping forms of both Yahiko and Konan. It was weird being in the presence some of the upcoming founders of the Akatsuki. Another founder still out in Ame somewhere. <em>'Didn't think I would meet the two of them in the same day...Now if only I had my pack'.<em>

There was no fire, as they wanted to keep a low profile. They hadn't talked much since they left the sewer. Shock, fear and exhaustion had run its course through the two kids. He rested for a bit, but intended on waking after.

He crawled out from the cave he was in, stretching his muscles when he did.

He thought back on what happened in the village, it was relatively peaceful before absolute chaos broke through. _'It was horrible...'_ The numerous innocent bystanders that were struck down.

He recalled the moments when Neji was killed right before his eyes, along with other shinobi killed by the wood style attack from the ten-tails. It was an entirely different experience to see the deaths of powerless civilians against ninja.

_'They were harmless...'_ He looked over to his fellow orphans that lay asleep. _'This is what they grew up in... the middle of war'._

It unsettled him to see his fellow village shinobi take the lives of innocents. Either mistakenly or intentionally.

He took a deep breath, It was probably premature to think that something was wrong with his chakra. Hoping that it would at least normalize in a couple of days. If only he knew how long since he arrived in this time.

Right now he focused on returning to retrieve his bag. Valuables and other things he needed to help with the time ahead. His chakra was still fairly pitiful, he hadn't had any time to recover, plus the clones he created to help the civilians sort of halted him.

He had no choice but to get that bag back. His exhaustion wouldn't stop him now.


	3. A Fox

**Chapter 3**

He sat outside with some protection from the rain. He merely sat down, contemplating. Hesitantly, he formed a shadow clone and felt a drop in his chakra. Before it was so plainly unnoticeable. He formed a rasengan next and he noticed he had to put more effort into it. He took a calming breath and attempted to mold some chakra, even that took a bit of labor.

"So I sort of have this disability huh?"He really did hope it was temporary.

"Anything can have consequences, no matter how mundane, great or terrible."Kurama commented.

"Since when have you become such a philosopher?"

"Since I became your brain"

"...I think I should avoid trying to use Sage mode for the time being, until I at least fully recover," He frowned worriedly.

"Naruto" Kurama called out, his voice serious again. "Take into account of the worst case scenario that you'll never return to normal, that'll you'll get more exhausted easily. I'm in a similar state with my chakra too, so I can't let my chakra flow so abundantly into you anymore."

"Alright, alright" It was a disturbing thought._ 'A sacrifice for a great accomplishment'_ He hoped that it wasn't true. Everything would be so much better if he didn't have to give anything at all.

"It's been a really long day..."He wasn't looking forward to it. He felt some built up frustration, from everything. He wanted to destroy a nearby piece of tree but even that would take of his precious energy needed for today. That made him even more pissed off.

Some of the items he held in his bag had some sentimental value. He wasn't about to lose it immediately since coming back.

He had enough of it however, he was a person of action, and that something he always did. He wrapped a long piece of cloth around his face, to help hide his identity. He stood up, flipping his hood over him as started the walk back to the town that had been seized.

* * *

><p>He sprinted across wet ground and slippery trees to get to the town. He saw the glow of the town in the skyline as he neared it. He saw no sights of patrols so far. Seeing the buildings in the distance he slowed his approach.<p>

_'It would be crazy for me to go barging in like I own the place.'_

'More than usual at least' The fox commented.

He wasn't sold on the idea of hurting his comrades either, even those from other villages. If he had his leaf band he might've been able to infiltrate it more easily. With his pathetically low chakra, he wouldn't be able to create a hundreds of shadow clones at the moment.

He could have snuck back inside through the sewers that Yahiko had showed him. Except it seemed more likely that that any entrances would've been sealed, or had traps placed on them. If they showed any form of competency at least. So the only ideal plan was a more direct approach.

He circled around the town to find the most vulnerable spot to get inside. Making sure to avoid any small patrols around the village. He soon found a area that was the least occupied, which wasn't much compared to the other options, but it had to do.

'It would be smart if there was traps placed everywhere' Kurama said.

"Yeah, good call." He stood at the edge of large field filled with tall grass, rain softly drifted to the ground like falling mist. The moonlight shone faintly through the cracks of clouds, hardly lighting the landscape, the sun had disappeared a little more than two hours ago . The only useful source of light came from the upcoming town. The lack of colors on the buildings and constant rain had an air of melancholy associated with it.

He slowly traversed through the tall grass, hoping that there weren't any byakugan users guarding it. It gave him some slight pause, that he shook away. _'Now's not the time...'_

There were numerous amounts of traps engineered to alert of any possible intruders that Naruto bypassed. Even though the distance to the town was about two hundred meters , it was taking a while to traverse the distance. He was getting frustrated at such a slow crawl, but what he found out when training for senjutsu was that sensing for nature energy helped calmed him. He did not dare try to collect any of it, if his chakra had been disrupted. After a hour of avoiding traps and various curious patrols he finally made it into the edge of town.

Some shinobi ran their rounds as he jumped up to the nearest building. hiding between some cracks in the building. There were numerous Leaf ninja littered among the flat roofs of the towns. He witnessed house raids being completed, captives being rounded up at the nearest street.

"Do you think I should help them?" Seeing several being thrown to the ground, several civilians were sobbing. Clutching their children and loved ones.

"You'll only make it worse"

"How so?"

"Will you be able to care for them? Protect them at all times? Or to let them fend for themselves? Even if you decide to rescue them, will they even be able to outrun the shinobi?"

"Alright jeez, just a yes or no would've been okay" Still, it was perspective that he hadn't really thought of. It made him ponder as he continued towards where he had originally lost his bag.

Some people had remarked about him being able to get people to follow him. To start believing in him because of who he was. He desired to be Hokage, yet, he needed to think more. To start thinking of the consequences of his actions.

"It's going to be some hard work..."

Numerous Konoha shinobi were patrolling the streets, some no doubt celebrating their victory as he heard some excited yelling, others were on top roof tops, keeping a lazy watch on the streets. He also hadn't been caught yet. _'There doesn't seem be any Hyuuga's...'._

He finally reached the entrance where he had lost his bag. It was a fairly busy street, shinobi entering, lugging around bags. He kept to the shadows, but noticed plenty of shinobi had the raven hair with coal eyes. They really reminded him of Sasuke, especially how they carried themselves. A confident and proud pace.

'Uchiha are not an impossibility' Kurama stated.

He recalled Obito telling him of the fate of the Uchiha. Their 'curse' was a whole lot of crock of shit, definitely. Anything that had to do with fate, destiny, or anything that was predetermined didn't sit well with him at all.

If there was something that he could change for the better, it was to help them avoid being slaughtered for trying to revolt against the village.

"It's not like they've done it yet..."He frowned.

He made certain to keep out of their line of sight as he searched from above. Sadly, he found no trace of it, either taken or under one of the several piles of rubble. _'Maybe they've taken it somewhere...Noticed my headband inside. They must have a lost and found tent or something'_

'A populated area might hold one'

He closely followed a group, until they reached a large encampment. An area devoid of any buildings, he recalled the area as a farmer's market where he had stopped to buy some food.

There were plenty of tents, he estimated that it at least housed two hundred shinobi. "That's a lot of people I don't want to hurt...Too badly at least"

The grounds were busy, a mess of people setting up their own tents and walking around. He saw several buildings the surrounded the site, shinobi entering and leaving. _'It should be in one of those'_

The problem was that there was too many people going about to sneak in. The plenty of guards above the buildings would also spot him.

"Shadow clones for a distraction then" He created several shadow clones to duplicate themselves outside of town. He waited for a whole half hour before he felt some memories mix in with his.

At least thirty solid clones to create a distraction, starting in two minutes. He moved out of the side of building he was on, quickly and quietly traversing to the top. A chuunin guard was overlooking, mostly keeping watch over the other flat roofs.

He silently crept up behind him, recalling some of the training Jiraiya have taught him. He reached for his neck, and he began to desperately struggle. The chuunin tried to shout for help, but only strained gasps escaped. It was only a few moments later when he went limp.

_'He should be out for a few minutes'_ He checked his breathing, finding it stable. He formed more shadow clones to take out several more lookouts nearby, so that he could get in fast and quietly. Finding himself trying to breath normally, that took plenty out of him.

He heard the muted booms in the distance, the light of the flares near the entrance of the village. Excitement grew down below, shinobi exited from out of their tents. Jonin shouted orders to their subordinates. The courtyard quickly grew chaotic as the mass of ninja made their way towards the commotion.

Smaller squads quickly dispersed towards different walls, he rightly assumed that that defenses weren't too weak in case the attack was a distraction.

He landed gracefully on the hard concrete and rapidly made his way towards the mess of buildings. He entered one building, finding a mess of items sprawled over tables and bags lined up under them.

"Halt!" An voice called out from behind before he took another step. He didn't listen, instead turning around and facing a straggler.

"You dare attack Konoha territory?" He said lowly. The raven hair, the black bold eyes. Naruto saw he wore a high collared outfit similar to Sasuke's. He saw the symbol of the Uchiha embroidered on the jacket. His next words were condescending. "You're 'infiltrating' stops here"

"An Uchiha right? Think you need your sharingan to stop me?"Naruto questioned.

"It'll take less than ten seconds" He responded, confidently. In Naruto's point of view, cocky.

He could only blink dumbly at him. "Err, thanks" He saw his clone sneak from behind and engage him. He lay on the floor unconscious a moment later.

"Wonder if they are all like that bastard Sasuke?" As he stared at the drooling mess that the Uchiha was.

"He was too easy though" Naruto commented. He wondered if all Uchiha's were like that. Sasuke could at least back his claims.

"Yup"

Was he really talking to himself? He created more shadow clones to help him search, along with the other buildings nearby. By then he felt winded from today's exertion. He turned the place upside down to find his bag. Every second crawled, any moment they would realize his ruse and he would have to fight his way out. In his present state, even that would be difficult.

Memories poured into him, his clones not finding any sign of his pack. Even after a more thorough second search.

"Ah,shit!" He screamed in frustration. He needed more supplies for Konan, himself and Yahiko. He quickly scrounged up more supplies as quickly as possible. Feeling all his clones dissipate when he finished.

It was too late to find his stuff. At least he had Sasuke's headband in his tool bag, as well as his Father's kunai and a copy of Jiraiya's book. Plenty, but Iruka's headband was also important to him.

He sprinted out the door and climbed up to the top of the building before rushing across the rooftops.

Most of the rooftops were empty, most likely gone to support the walls in the outer area of town. The gentle fall of mist transformed into large heavy droplets. As he was closing in on the exit, he saw another form suddenly pop up on the opposite side of the roof.

He stopped with a skid, sighing in annoyance. She was small, slender and lithe. He faced a kunoichi. She wore a chuunin flak jacket and Konoha hita-ate in its rightful place, black pants that fit snugly and a katana that hung behind her waist. She was fair-skinned and had medium length wet black hair that was tied into a high-pony tail that reached her neck. She had long bangs that were on the side of her face, and partially covered the hitai-ate and just above her onyx eyes and nose. Seeing her wet heart shape face, and determined black eyes.

"You're not going anywhere..." Her voice revealing her confidence. A voice that Naruto found lovely. _'This isn't the place to think about girls...'_ Luckily the heat in his cheeks was hidden by the cloth he wore.

His opinion of her went up a margin when saw the swirl of the sharingan in her eyes. _'At least she's not under estimating me'_

Perhaps not all Uchiha's were ever so arrogant. As she silently pulled out her Katana from the scabbard.

* * *

><p>Mikoto Uchiha was returning from a scouting run from beyond the fields, she ignored the banter from her team. Rain kept pouring down from the sky, she just wanted to get some sleep.<p>

As an Uchiha, she was very prideful of her clan. An exception was that preferred not to boast about it because being best friends with a loud and brash red head had stopped her from that. Something about 'sticks up Uchiha's asses', and many other crude insults. She wondered once again about how she got to be best friends with her.

She already knew the reason of course, when her mother had died Kushina's energy and upbeat attitude had really helped her out of her depression. She was always taught by being an Uchiha that wielded the sharingan would grant her superiority over others, and that the clan should come first and the village second.

She felt somewhat conflicted in her ideals, Kushina and her boyfriend Minato believed in the village, the village came first for them.

_'But...they don't belong to clans...'._It may have had more effect on her if they were. She was proud to not have the arrogance that the vast amount of the Uchiha clan had, something that Kushina was responsible for, it did not mean she wasn't confident.

_'I wonder if she's doing well_...' She was stationed in the Land of Rivers, along with Minato to fight Suna ninja. _'I hope she's doing okay'_

They stepped into town after some light convincing and passwords being exchanged. She was thankful their run had come to a close, only for it to be broken by the sound of an alarm and flares lighting up across from town.

"That's from the east entrance!"Her jonin captain claimed. "Uchiha, inform HQ of the status of the northern sector"

"Okay" She replied. Before they all jumped towards the commotion being caused. _'Already a counter attack?'_

She quickly traversed a nearby building to the top. She was probably more skilled than the other two chuunin she was with, but she wasn't very well liked by him. Nonetheless, she had a command to follow, and the faster she completed it, the faster she could help defend.

She couldn't but muse whether his distaste for her stemmed from her eyes or from the general attitude from her clan.

The rain seemed to have picked up the pace, making her hair damp hair even more soaked than the gentle mist-like rain. She disregarded it and continued on her way, eager to met any resistance from the possible attack. She moved past the center buildings taking a slight detour to avoid wasting time on the larger buildings.

She a saw movement up to her left _'He's heading away from the attack, and isn't wearing the standard attire' _She moved to intercept him, moving faster than him.

Stopping in front of him on a wide but small roof, he quickly joined her soon after. She scrutinized him, and quickly reasoned that he was infiltrating or had hid in the town since he wore nothing identifying of Konoha shinobi_._

It was almost uplifting to see some color in a gloomy setting of grey and drab colors. He wore a red jacket with thick orange stripes on either side of his arm along with orange pants that didn't mix well with the grey texture of building. Seemingly fond of the color orange if its frequency was of any indication. She saw the blond hair that hung over his serious and annoyed cerulean eyes. Immediately, an image of Minato conjured up in her mind.

She wiped her thoughts away and was prepared to kill him, activating her bloodline limit. She couldn't see any outward reaction. Because of her clan's infamy, most shinobi were generally intimidated.

_'This guy...'_ She felt uneasy from his lack of reaction. _'Not even a flinch'._ Her eyes caught no subtle movement, like he was made of stone. She saw the muscles under her eyes raise. _'Is he smiling?'_. She held her ground, trying air her confidence. His eye's showed eagerness but no form of hostility. Annoyance was still present, that only angered her.

"No games huh? At least you're not like the other one I ran into, Oh don't worry, that guy is completely fine, no one's in danger as far as I know"

She attempted to cast a genjutsu, it worked. Only for it to fail immediately. _'What?...How did he catch it so quickly and with no hand signs!?_ She could obviously see the amusement in his eyes.

"Genjutsu won't work on me, sadly."

They hadn't moved an inch but Mikoto could feel her palms getting clammy. _'He...Completely believes in himself...'_His body language was one thing, but his fiery eyes were another. He held no doubts in himself and held an aura of clear confidence. Mikoto could believe that he had the skills to back him up. She took a deep breath to calm herself. _'I guess genjutsu is out of the question...'_His eyes watched her closely, scrutinizing every movement.

"I'd like to hang out some more, but y'know, I'm a bit tired from today. Like, I don't think you can understand it. Plus the whole lot of angry shinobi in a few short minutes" He said lightly. It was clear that he was waiting for her to act first, so she would gladly humor him.

"I'm an Uchiha" She said to him. Although more to herself to help calm her nerves. _'We're one of the elites of the Hidden Leaf...'_ raising her katana at him. _'Everything has a weakness'. _

Sending chakra to her feet she quickly crossed the distance between them, she brought her sword in downward diagonal slash. Which he quick blocked with his Kunai he held with his left hand. Undeterred Mikoto kept pressure on her blade and used her flexibility to try and land a left kick to his head, which he quickly blocked with his right forearm.

She quickly retreated only to dive back in to deliver more strikes. Her sharingan captured his precise and experienced movements, she heard the clings of metal scrapping against metal as he redirected or blocked her strikes. _'It's like he's playing with me...'_ As he hadn't even retaliated.

She jumped away and sheathed her katana. _'I'm no master at kenjutsu yet...' _Once she landed she quickly closed the distance once more.

She threw punches which would only get deflected, but she noticed she had the advantage as she put him in a defensive state. Except she could not land any solid hits, even with the help of her sharingan. He started to retaliate throwing hard punches that she blocked, she was sure that it would leaves bruises in the morning.

Taking inspiration for Kushina in their spars; she threw a left hook, which he blocked with his left hand, she was able to get a firm hold on his wrist. She punched with her right fist, and predicting his movements with her sharingan, watched as he went to block her fist while she went for a kick to his ribs. She put as put force and the her kick landed, although the only reaction was a grunt as he reacted with a kick of his own. She retreated before he could land it. _'I won't be able to win with taijutsu either'_

His attacks were punishing, whenever she blocked an attack it made her numb. In their brief scuffle she was only able to land one solid hit, and it didn't even seemed to have winded him at all. _'He could've done the same to me...why didn't he grab me?'_

Grabbing a few shuriken in her pouch she threw it at him. She jumped back and still in mid air she completed a few hand signs, she inhaled only to exhale her clan's signature jutsu. A violent fireball that covered the expanse of the roof.

With the small distance the large fireball quickly approached him. _'There's no way for him to escape'_ The bright flame would no doubt alert any one nearby. Just in case, she quickly placed her right hand on the hilt of her blade in a reverse grip. Once it dissipated she noticed a hole in the roof.

"What's up?" She heard behind her, almost playfully. She had already twirled around, quick drawing her sword to slice him. She heard a loud slap. _'Even with a quick draw?'_

He held her blade between his palms, despite how much force she attempted to put through it. It didn't budge.

He heaved a weighty sigh. "That's good enough, I'd enjoy a little spar, but I'm bit too tired of all this, perhaps some other time?" He said, not one that conveyed a condescending tone. Even he she struggled to end his life, or to wound him.

It was then some of her fellow shinobi came.

First, a blinding light flashed before her eyes quickly adjusted. Her eyes captured the massive fireball heading towards them. Far too large and too quickly for her to escape. She continued to keep pressure on her blade, making sure that he wouldn't be able to move. He peered behind, those moments far likely shorter for him.

He was unworried, his expression changing into something more serious. He seemed to erupt in a wild fire, yet her eyes captured the chakra the formed around him. One hand released her Katana, and she felt the strong tug on her sword, Unbalancing her and causing her to lose her grip and managing to take it from her.

His other hand raised up as if to catch. She was flabbergasted when a giant transparent hand appeared and caught the Giant fireball, crushing it out from existence. Her eyes caught the numerous Phoenix flower balls supporting the attack.

Mikoto's recorded the knowledge of a technique he used. The hand signs, smoke appeared beside him and the fire that surrounded him disappeared. The clone appeared and jumped up into the air in a flourish, performing a flip while deflecting the shuriken infused with the fireballs.

The clone was solid, but didn't try to engage any longer and raced through them. The real one disengaged descending down into streets below, losing sight of him.

"Down there!" She shouted, two listened and gave chase while the other two chased the clone before she could protest.

"Was he...Messing with me?" The only response was of the patter of the rain and the sound of orders being shouted.


	4. Dreams

**Chapter 4**

"Naruto..." Konan poked him in the shoulder. He was laid sideways, covered in his red jacket in what appeared to be a warm sleep. Laid about in front of him was an imposing sword. Another bag of food was also laid nearby, one that he hadn't possessed previously.

She looked around, finding Yahiko enjoying some food that he had brought with him. He had offered to give some despite that he had little of it. They had woken up an hour ago, yet the eldest one of them was still asleep. Even the cracking thunder that shook the ground beneath them didn't cause him to stir.

"Naruto..."She spoke again, poking him in the shoulder. She kept up in her persistence until he finally reacted to her actions.

He mumbled incoherently, so another poke. Until he finally, tiredly, opened a single eye. It didn't focus on her until a moment later.

"Whuh?" His voice thick with sleep.

"You're finally awake?" He frowned, not amused.

She didn't quite know him yet. If his dreams really were genuine or not, she was given food. Plenty of it too. He was very friendly, not suspiciously so. He just acted without some underhanded purpose. She wanted to find a bit more before deciding anything. His food offerings made her stay.

"Where did you get this?"She grabbed the blade by his handle, surprised with the little weight it had, she settled it down after showing it. He really didn't react to her.

"Found it" He mumbled.

"So you found this big bag of food too?" He closed his eyes once again and tried to nod off to sleep. She didn't believe it, anything left on the side of the road was picked apart, either food or to sell.

She shook the bag to accentuate her point.

His eyes peered open again, tiredly, but his sleep began to slowly shake away. He sat up, wiping the tiredness from his eyes. He sat back against the cave's surface and he just simply looked at her.

"Fine, I stole it from the village when you went to sleep" He yawned deeply. "I've gotten it just for the two of you"

She stared at him, wondering about several things. If he simply stolen it, or... The fact was that he really was capable of himself if he was able to sneak back into the village filled with ninjas.

"I forgot to give the sword back to the pretty kunoichi too..." Another yawn. "Can you get me a rice ball? I'm going to head back to sleep, eat whatever you want, Yahiko too"

She began to get excited at his proposal. She quickly dug into the bag to grab his request and handed over to him. He mumbled a thanks and lied back down facing away from her.

Other than yesterday, she couldn't recall the last time she had filled her stomach, it was very unusual and the other day she had nearly puked that out. Hot water with steaming ramen made her mouth water.

She dug in, making sure to grab some for Yahiko, who had gracefully given some of his own food he had scrounged up.

She went over to the orange haired boy, handing him some of the food she had.

"Have some there's plenty more, Naruto's treat" She plopped down and began to eat once again. There was no hot food, but she wasn't complaining at all.

"Oh, thanks..."He focused on eating, rather than talking. He pocketed some in his bag.

She was debating whether to stay with Naruto. There was no doubt he was trained to fight, or to escape. He was easily surviving the war, from all the food and money he had with him. He also seemed rather sincere in his hopes, and he also pointed out that she was completely free to go as she pleased.

She guessed she saw no harm in staying for a while. They finished eating in the time being, feeling stuff just felt so good. Some minutes of silence was spent trying to enjoy that fact.

She caught the boy Yahiko sending some glances over to Naruto. Hearing the snoring echo within the cave. "So, does he usually sleep in this long?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know."

He tilted his head."Really? How long have you two known each other?"

"Well...Actually, I only met him yesterday, he also fed me too..."

"And just now too?" He asked, which she nodded. "Well, I want to thank him personally. It looks like he worked hard on it" To prove his point, The eldest of them gave a loud snore before settling in more peaceful state.

It was true, he looked rather exhausted. He never really woke up when they spoke some time before. He was obviously still tired from the night before of...Whatever he did.

Was the sword a fashion of his prize? What exactly did he do? Would he share what he did? He seemed very vulnerable now. She recalled that he had said he was sick in a manner of speaking. Perhaps this was it.

They talked a bit more, waiting for the blond to awake from his slumber. She sat down, peering out from the small cave they were in. The misty rain ran less and less until finally, it stopped, several clouds broke apart and bright rays of sun pierced through the veil.

It was always so nice when it stopped raining. She felt the warmth of the sun, and wondered how long it would last.

As if sensing the rain had halted, she heard Naruto stirring behind her.

He sat up, slowly waking himself as he sighed every now and then. Until he finally asked. "What's the time?"

"Noon..." She answered, checking the watch she carried.

"Twelve hours? Wow..."He yawned greatly, wiping his eyes and reached his bag to grab a few things to eat. He finally then noticed the other boy they were with.

They looked so similarly alike, it was uncanny. Both with spiky hair, the soft blue eyes, even some of their facial features were a bit alike. "Heh, you two look like you're related"

They both looked astonished at her comparison. Before Yahiko finally spoke. "Hey, I want to thank you for giving some of your food..."

Naruto looked oddly at him, like he was trying to remember him or something. "No problem. Anything else?"

Now that he had mentioned it, it was a little odd to stick around for just a thank you.

"So you know how to fight huh? You said you snuck in into the town before?"

Naruto continued eating, looking satisfied. "Sure did"

"How did you do that by the way?" She asked, seeing as they were on the subject.

"They weren't expecting me being alone, or so soon. They were setting up camp I guess. "He finished eating, taking out some clothes and a shirt from the bag. He started wiping the blade with the material before ripping the shirt and wrapping it around the sharp steel.

Yahiko looked intently focused, he didn't seem to be paying any attention as to what the blond was doing.

"What are you..."She began to ask.

"Me? I'm just making sure there's no water on it, I want to make sure it doesn't fall apart before I return it. If I ever do that is...Besides, I'm not the kind to use something like this"

"You want to return it?" That didn't make much sense. Then she remembered his peace talks. Following that, she could assume that he hadn't killed anyone to obtain what he had returned with.

"I hope I get too" As he wrapped the sword with linen. There was a sort of unassuming air that he carried. She liked to think that she was good at finding lies.

Konan cemented the idea that he really was a good person.

"So you know how to fight right?" Yahiko finally spoke, His expression displaying strong intent. He spoke again before Naruto got the chance to reply. "How did you learn?"

Naruto stared blankly, his wrapping of the sword was finished now he was merely content with laying back against the rock wall."...This old guy taught me, well, before he was murdered" He said rather emotionlessly.

Yahiko's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Hey, I have pretty neat idea...umm well, it involves you teaching us , but will you teach me too? Err uhh, Then we can all watch out for one another and stuff. You know, be friends and all?"

She was surprised, undoubtedly. All she had thought was to survive another day, and really, that changed just now as thoughts were towards when the next meal would come. No one had ever offered her food before either, yet these two had.

She laughed quietly. "That's what Naruto had said, except the way he phrased it sounded much better"

"Huh?" Caught off guard, turning over to Naruto. Who bore a smile." You had the same idea too?"

"Yeah, I don't think we're the first ones either" Naruto crawled out from within, reaching the outside. "That's a yes Yahiko. I mean, I never taught anyone how to fight from the ground up, but I'll guess I'll try. If I can't, we'll certainly find someone who definitely can"

"It doesn't matter, We stick together, We'll do alright" Yahiko replied. They both looked to share the same ideals, which in Konan's eyes, was a good thing.

She decided then that since Yahiko trusted him so quickly, she would do the same. "I want to join too"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he smiled. "Great, we're one step closer"

* * *

><p>Mikoto lay in her sleep bag. a simple staying at the ceiling of her tent. The constant dripping that she heard above. It was a small, hardly large enough to support her and the supplies she brought. Nor was it tall enough to even sit in.<p>

She was plagued by the thoughts of last night's events. The guy she had fought with, who had had held back and outpaced the likes of the son of the Uchiha chief. Still, Fugaku was a bit of dick for firing a fireball in her direction. He had replied that he hadn't seen her, that she was reluctant to believe. He gave a rather sincere apology that she accepted.

She had a feeling that if she wasn't an Uchiha she wouldn't get a apology at all. She wished they would drop the _'Succeed the mission at any cost'_ mentality many Konoha shinobi adapted, which was one the Uchiha clan followed along with the difference being _'Clan first'_. Destroying the enemy was the primary mission, to win the war.

She was glad that Minato and Kushina followed the _'Comrade first'_. Everyone was getting tired of this war, but no one knew when it would end. Someone named 'Shimura' had apparently started this thing to spiral out of control. Mission success rate had gone up, with the added effect of more fatalities. Which was something she wasn't eager to join the list of that.

Mostly, her thoughts were interrupted by the blue eyed blond she had fought.

He was extremely capable if their bout was of any indication. He had replied that he was tired, and all the breathing he did showed that.

He had leapt away and somehow knew that that Shuriken were within the small flames, he was familiar with the Uchiha. Her Genjutsu was rendered useless, he had immediately located it and disrupted it far too quickly to be of use.

He was also responsible for the panic that was caused, seeing as he outwitted the son of the chief with the aid of shadow clones.

_'Who was that guy?...'_She asked herself. She shivered at what she was told this morning. No sign of infiltrators that were found, no POW's that had escaped, and none of the civilians that were left behind knew anything. The only hint was that he searched the building where they had assigned possible lost valuable items. The entire town had been on lock down alert, No one leaving or entering until a possible cause was found.

No one saw him enter and he had completely rendered a dozen of chuunin, and even some jonin unconscious. All were stationed around the lost and found building. It sounded impossible that he had done it completely unnoticed.

All were completely unharmed, save for a little bruising. _'He could have killed so many single-handedly...Me as well..He made this entire company look like fools...'_

She heard the kicking at the flaps of her tent. "Mikoto?"

"What is it?"

"Can I ask your help for something" Mikoto noisily climbed out of her tent. She stood up to see a Akira, older but still fairly small with the same height as her. She was fairly plain looking with short blonde hair that reached her shoulders, she wore a chuunin vest with dark blue pants. She was part of the squad she was assigned too. An acquaintance to Mikoto to say the least.

"What for?" She asked.

"Help find my bag at that...uh lost items thingy or whatever" She explained. Mikoto was sorely tempted to turn her down. Except one of Kushina's last words were '_find some damn friends' _and Akira was only one of the only people who would approach her other than her fellow Uchiha. Mikoto knew many of the Uchiha clan, but she didn't want to associate with many of them because of their arrogance

"Sure lead the way, I need to find my blade anyway" She hoped that the blond discarded her Katana and didn't steal it.

"Thanks" She happily replied. They walked together towards a set of buildings. She really hoped that he hadn't stolen it. "So did you hear that one guy knocked out our sentries yesterday?" She asked.

"Yeah...I actually fought him" She replied, she waited for her usual response.

"Oh, How did it go? How did he look like? How old was he? Was he cute?" She hoped that last bit was more of joke than a serious question. They haven't known each other for long but Akira did like to talk about boys. _'At least she's competent enough'._

"Why do you want to know? He's the enemy"

"He can't be that bad if he hadn't really hurt anyone. Came in, went out without doing a whole lot"

She couldn't really argue with that, even when she fought him, she did not particularly feel in danger. Not to mention that she felt he could have ended her immediately.

She sighed either way. "I wouldn't know what he looked like, he had the majority of face hidden. I can only say that he had blond hair and blue eyes. It really reminded me of Minato Namikaze"

She cooed. "He's really a looker isn't he?"

She had to agree, that didn't mean she would ever verbally acknowledge it. There was talks about how he was an prodigy, so he was well known within the village. He had become a jonin early on, a testament to his skill. She wasn't one...yet.

They passed through the sites and town quickly, finding the building of the lost items. They entered, she had overheard that this was where the perpetrator had been seen, and also subdued an Uchiha.

"So what's your bag look like?

"I'm not sure"

"Seriously?"

"What? I just got that bag, anyway, there's supposed to be a tag inside"

"You're so forgetful." As Akira wandered off towards the assortment of bags and other large items in the corner. She herself went to the weapons that were sorted neatly in the center of the room.

Despite several inspections, and closer examinations of similar blades, she couldn't find it. She fumed internally, before reasoning that it may take a while to appear. She would have to keep checking afterwards to see. She hoped that her sword hadn't been stolen by the blue-eyed guy.

She dragged herself towards Akira, who was still searching.

"Found what you're looking for?"

"No, I didn't"

"Hopefully it turns up...So..."

She waited, wondering what she was going to ask as she opened up a pack and took a quick look inside. Setting it aside when it wasn't her friend's.

"Given thought about your future?" Akira voiced.

"Your meaning?"

"Meaning, I would like to have a family one day" She replied.

"Oh, I haven't really given it much thought. I mean, you're seventeen right?" Surprised by her question and answer. She was mostly occupied with trying to survive this war. Heroics can wait, it was what the majority of her clan was focused on. Another was trying to be an worthy Kunoichi, of that for her clan and village.

"It's for the future obviously, not right now"

It kind of gave her thoughts about what would occur if a kunoichi found out if she was pregnant during she was deployed in the war. If there was any consequences of that.

It felt like she had been deployed for a lifetime, despite the fact that she served a year's worth of the war.

Her thoughts and anything said by Akira was disrupted from the bag she had opened and read. There, inscribed on the tag inside was 'Uzumaki'. She blankly looked at it, making sure she wasn't hallucinating such a thing.

"Uzumaki" She whispered. From what she knew, the Uzumaki were wiped out in the beginning of the war. The only one she knew was Kushina, and the only one in the village. Her curiosity piqued, she searched inside to find food, scrolls and a most peculiar thing.

A Leaf Village Headband, stitched on a long piece of black cloth. Puzzled, Kushina wasn't stationed anywhere near her, in fact two days journey south. It became apparent that it didn't belong to her.

"Found it" Akira announced, displaying it for the world to see.

Deciding that it was in Kushina's best interest, she took the bag and place it around her shoulders. It likely didn't belong to anyone in her battalion.

* * *

><p>Konan walked alongside the two people she had met, she had never had some companionship before. She notably felt safer, but she didn't survive for so long without being wary. She looked at Naruto, who looked very contemplative, but occasionally would glance somewhere at brief periods. Perhaps it was something that she hadn't heard, he had said he was shinobi trained.<p>

The eternal-like rain fell gently, she thought it most often fell harshly. It was a nice change of pace, like it was sign of a lull. There was some other refugees, but they kept to themselves on the other side of the road they walked on.

"Naruto?"

"Hm? What is it?" He asked, looking at her under the hood he wore.

"Is it okay if I ask you something" She saw Yahiko take a small glance, no doubt he would hear whatever there was to say because of how close they walking.

"Go ahead, I mean friends ask each other things right? And know each other, so ask what you want"

There was plenty of things that she wanted to ask, but it felt rude to ask so many at the same time.

"Well this dream of yours, how do you think we'll accomplish it?" She couldn't quite understand how they would get it done.

Naruto gave a friendly smile. "Well, through what my godfather would say, he desired that peace to be achieved through mutual understanding, no violence, and to resolve our hate for each other."

"That's sounds pretty simple" Yahiko replied. "I want to stop this war"

"I do too, but I think it sounds pretty hard"

Yahiko continued to talk, more fiercely. "We share the same thing then... That's why I want to trained"

"Heh, Then that means we're partners then" Naruto seemed kind of happy about that. "Except there's a catch, you can't give up, no matter what. That's what it means to be a shinobi. Having comrades beside you, supporting you, There's not a lot that you can't do together"

Yahiko looked up at the grey sky, his voice low. "No more fighting, just...just peace, you won't have to worry about anything ever again"

It sounded surreal. To her at the moment, seeing the hungry looks of refugees she passed, it sounded impossible. It was only something to dream about, but the way they believed in it. It looked like it can be done. She vowed to herself that it would be her dream as well.

* * *

><p>They had walked a snail's pace to what he was used too. The only thing that made him feel better was that the Land of Rain wasn't quite as large as his home country. What would have been a day's run - if uninterrupted - would be a week's journey. That was only accounting for the length of the country, they were only heading towards a town.<p>

He watched over the sleeping forms of Yahiko and Konan, under their 'shelter'. If it can ever be described at that, which was only a slope of a cliff that hid them from the over head rain. If a wind picked an unfavorable direction, they would awake drenched.

Naruto mused that they would have made into the town the Yahiko had picked if they were shinobi. They weren't just yet, just civilians so far. They could not sustain themselves near a fraction as to what Shinobi can.

He had suggested that Yahiko pick their settlement, since he had no knowledge about the country, and Yahiko happily suggested their destination. It was somewhere further away from the warzones, at the very least danger wouldn't reach them for a while.

Absent mindedly, he found that he had his father's kunai in his hand. He didn't quite know when he picked it out of his tool bag. He fiddled it with, tracing the kanji that was inscribed on its handle, it looked worn already. He didn't know the technique of course, but it was something to remember his father by.

_"You ready to go?" Minato asked. Naruto nodded, taking a deep breath at the sudden surge of power now that the full power of Kurama entailed. He looked at his dad , his edo tensei eyes still present. Like him, Minato had been able to escape with the help of Kurama._

_"Yeah..." Naruto sighed loudly. He looked at the blond hair that hung just above his eyes. He picked up the bag at his feet. Kurama had said that they might end up a few months before he attacked. The side of effects of performing the jutsu was unknown, since immense chakra was needed. He didn't know if he would appear weeks or months away from the attack._

_"Cheer up Naruto...After all, you are my son right?" Naruto managed to smile. His failure still kept hungering over him. He couldn't save his friends._

_"I won't fail this time" Naruto replied. _

_"That's more like it" Minato looked at his son. He closed his eyes and slightly smiled at him. "Now...There's something I want to give you"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Here" He handed him one of his special Kunai, it's handle facing toward him. "It's a bit heavy, and unconventional but it's incredibly sturdy, built to last" Naruto slowly grasped the handle of the 3 pronged Kunai. It's grip was larger than ordinary kunai and it had a faint yellow color to it. _

_"Thanks...Dad" _

He had left soon after, Minato didn't belong to the world anymore. He desired to be with his wife, Naruto's own mother. He had left knowing the world would be good in Naruto's hands. He felt the sting in his throat but controlled it quickly.

He twirled the kunai in his hand, feeling like it would last like his dad had said. He thought about the first fight he had with it, he slightly smiled at the spar.

The sharingan girl he fought a top a roof, although short it gave a peculiar feeling.

"Kinda nostalgic..." It reminded him of the fight above the hospital roof with Sasuke. Although with much less arrogance than what Sasuke showed. He was glad there was at least some Uchiha who weren't total dicks.

Prompted by this, he remembered some of the moments of when he fought alongside Sasuke against Obito. He shook his thoughts away. _'I shouldn't be thinking about the past...err, I guess the future...No that won't happen...Damn it's confusing'_ He decided to just call it a night and pulled his hood over his head to sleep.


	5. A Little Push

**Chapter 5**

_Naruto walked ahead, he saw the many shinobi that had been caught in the tsukiyomi. Many had emotionless expressions, he couldn't do anything to help them. Amongst them, the Kages of the elemental nations, including all of his friends. Some of them even had some smiles on their faces and they lived in their fake world. Naruto fell down on his knees, the red glow of the moon shone down on the earth. Puddles formed, combined from the rain and techniques and blood from fallen ninja that littered the land._

_"I couldn't do anything...Damn it!" He repeatedly slammed his fist into the wet rocks and dirt. He screamed in agony of his failures as the wounds in his knuckles repeatedly healed itself. _

_He fell down on his side after a while. His fist felt incredibly numb from the abuse. What was the use of living, if everything else is basically dead. _

_He couldn't get the faces of Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, Sasuke and everyone else out of his mind. He had to do something, but he couldn't move at all. He realized he hadn't had any sleep in the longest time, that he had fought with everything he had today and it didn't matter at all in the end. As soon as he closed his eyes he fell in dark restless sleep._

Naruto eyes flitted open. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, he controlled his breathing. He sat up , hearing the patter of the rain and took in his surroundings; He sat on a small worn mattress for one, he looked to his right to see Yahiko and Konan sleeping on their own mattress.

They found the cave they slept in and at Yahiko's suggestion, they planned to make it their little 'home'. They had reached town a day ago and Naruto had used up most of the money buying supplies. He was questioned by Konan about how he had gotten the money, which Yahiko had replied for him that he had no doubt had gotten it by stealing. Now his precious gama-chan was nearly empty after buying the supplies.

Fairly soon he they would have to resort to stealing, he would gladly do it to protect and help them. He took a look at orange haired boy.

Naruto had found out that he was raised as a merchant son that traveled frequently, hence his knowledge of the landscape and towns. His father had been killed last year from a desperate individual who was starving. _'These wars... are horrible...'_

He stood up and walked over to the a little package in the corner on the cave, he grabbed the package and pulled out a small portable stove. He installed the fuel and began to prepare some food for everyone else.

"Hey Konan" She didn't wear a coat anymore, now that they were inside and away from the rain. He found out that she wore a plain pale pink long sleeve shirt with blue pants.

"What's that? It's smells good"

"It's breakfast" He replied. It was very simple breakfast; Some eggs, cheese and some toast with some butter. Sure it wasn't extravagant, but it was certainly better than what they had eat to get here. It was got food, something that was miles better than the cold canned soup they had, along with the wet bread and soggy rice balls.

It certainly had gotten chilly in the morning. Konan yawned as she covered herself with her blanket and walked over to where he sat. A large flat rock was used as a table that Naruto had gotten from outside, it was still slightly wet from the rain. It was supported by other flat rocks so it reached his shin. It sat a meter away from the entrance in their small cave. From the entrance their supplies would be kept to the right, and they would sleep on the left side of the cave.

"So you know how to cook?" Konan had said, when she had wordlessly got up and prepared for today. He didn't really do much but cook.

"Yup" He replied, careful as too not be too loud seeing as Yahiko was asleep.

"Could I have some?" He saw a hungry look in her eyes as she eyed a plate of food on the rock table. He thought about it for a moment, Yahiko looked like he would still be out of it for a while.

"Sure, I'll join you" He flipped the egg as he grabbed his plate. He brought the stove to a lower heat so that he eat more comfortably. He brought out forks for them both and they each grabbed their own. He gave a thanks of food and He saw a quick stunned look on her face but she quickly joined him.

She looked like she was resisting trying to gobble up the food as quickly as she could.

"Hot...Hot food. I don't even...Remember I had them last" She said between mouthfuls. She ate more quickly than he was doing at the moment.

"Other than the ramen?" He said. Although that involved just hot water, a different kind of meal. "Glad you like it, it's going to be like that for a while" He smiled. They ate in silence for a bit, the only sounds were from the rain, forks lightly scrapping on plastic plates and along with Yahiko's loud snoring.

Umm... Can you teach me how to cook?" She asked determinedly. Naruto looked up at her and he quickly wiped off the surprise on his face. _'She was never taught by her parents... and she never had the chance to teach herself'_

"Of course!" He nodded. "In fact, I'll show you right now"

"Huh?" He ushered her to join him. "Right now?"

"Yeah, come on" Konan quickly stood up and went around the 'table' and sat herself right beside him. With a spatula he quickly took a slightly burnt egg from the small pan and placed it on a spare plate. He left the heat where it was, since it was her first time trying to cook.

"So, um- what do we do?" She asked,

"Well put some butter on the pan with this kunai" He let her handle his father's kunai. "That's too much...Yup that's okay" she put the butter on the pan and it started to melt.

"What does the butter really do?" as she eyed the melting butter curiously.

"Well... It doesn't make the food stick to the pan and it can make food taste better" She nodded in understanding and the butter started to sizzle. He handed her an egg. "Here, make it crack on the pan"

"How?"

"Like this" He mentioned with his hands- an imaginary egg - on the edge of the pan."And then when it cracks, you split the egg with your fingers"

"Right... I'll try" She shakily brought the egg over the edge of the pan and brought it down, with too much force. The shell broke and the yolk came spilling out on stove, she gasped.

"Hey don't worry about it, just try again" He tried to reassure her. He tried to hand her a another egg. Which was met with another shake of her head.

"We need to save our food don't we?" She asked hesitantly.

"Hmm? Then how are you supposed to learn how to cook huh?" He asked curiously."About that, I'm pretty much out of money, but we can always steal."

"I don't know...I guess-"

"Listen... I messed up a lot when I learned how to cook, you'll get better, promise"

"Okay...If you say so" She took the egg once more.

"Here's a easier way, break the shell over the pan with the kunai"

Konan followed his advice, and smiled when it worked with no harm done. "So when do I flip it?"

"When it becomes more solid...There, now you can do it" She clumsily flipped it, which resulted in folding in on itself. It didn't matter all that much. "It's ready now"

"It's not as great looking" Konan commented.

"Probably tastes just the same though"

"If you say so...How did you even make toast?" As she looked around for a toaster, they didn't even have any power.

"With this" He showed her a metallic can, both with the top and bottom torn out. Some wire was wrapped around the top. He removed the pan and replaced it with the can.

"Just put some bread and it will be toast soon enough. She watched in fascination as he flipped it the other side. "There...Now breakfast for Yahiko is done, so let's wake him up"

* * *

><p><em>'I wonder when Nagato is going to show up...'<em> He thought absentmindedly as he showed Konan how to cook some soup. "Okay... So add the tomatoes now"

She picked up the tiny cutting board filled with diced tomatoes and dropped into the soup. They had been here for two weeks now, their supply of food they had bought with his money was now depleted. It seemed his train of thought was similar to Yahiko.

"Now we gotta steal" The orange haired yelled out. He sat himself down next to the table. "It's the only way"

"Really?" Konan asked, as she looked at him for confirmation.

"I think so too... I mean we even tried to look for jobs" Naruto said. He knew it was inevitable, along with Yahiko, they tried to at least find something. "I mean, If we're going to be strong Shinobi, We gotta eat right y'know?!"

He heard some deep amused laughter from the being within him.

"That's pretty funny coming from you Naruto, you ate ramen all your life... You can't lie, you pretty much ate solely ramen" Kurama chuckled some more.

He felt embarrassed by that fact. It was true however, even while with Jiraiya he hardly went a a day with the stuff.

"Now you're thinking" Yahiko said. Dragging him back to reality and not in the sewer whenever he talked to Kurama, hardly any time had passed at all. "This war had taken everything from us, it's only right that we take some of it back right? So is that soup ready?"

"I think so..." Konan gave a questioning look to Naruto.

"Pretty much" As he checked the soup himself. A small comfortable silence overcame the three orphans. They sat and listened to the rain and most importantly, the hot soup.

"So uh, Naruto" He mentioned for him to continue. "Don't mean to pry or anything, but about your past? Where do you come from?"

Yahiko asked. At the request of Kurama, he had to make a back story for himself.

"I guess I'm sort of like you, I traveled with some old guy" Naruto said, Both of the orphans listened intently. "I guess you call him my god father since he knew my dad since before he...y'know" They nodded in understanding.

"They were shinobi right?"He nodded.

"See this Kunai" He pulled out a the unique Kunai he was given before. " This one belonged to my dad, it's special to me"

Yahiko leaned in to get a closer look as well as Konan. Before Yahiko decided to interject jokingly. "And you used it as a butter knife"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"It's kind of disrespectful if you asked me" The orange haired boy continued, nodding to himself at his wisdom.

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever here's your bowl" He replied, settling the other one for Konan and himself.

They ate quietly for the time being, taking in the quiet. Yahiko was the first to finish, he didn't get up however instead on looking determinedly at him.

"Naruto, do you think you can teach us now?"

He blinked at them. "Shinobi training?"

"Yes"

Naruto rubbed his neck. "Well, to be honest, it's all really simple for me. It comes entirely natural for me, since it's been so long ago since I first started"

"When did you start?"

"I was first being taught when I six years old. I was pretty good too, made top marks and all"

"Really, top marks in what?"

"Er, at least what my master said in comparison in his class, he said he was top student too. From what he told me, he said that there's a school to be taught the basics, how to mold your chakra and whatever. Then you get picked for a team and are assigned a jonin, an elite ninja to teach you a bit more stuff."

"From which Village?"

Naruto tried to feign being puzzled."Y'know, I actually never asked, He just trained me so I didn't really care"

Yahiko agreed, and Konan spoke up. "What do they teach at shinobi schools?"

"Hmm? The old man said he taught me everything that is usually taught at the school. Basics. Blade handling, tool throwing, chakra control, boring ass safety, some ninjutsu, taijutsu. Plenty of other things that I probably forgotten about."

"So how would I handle a sword?" Yahiko replied.

"Well I was taught about it, how to care for it, amateur level handling and techniques. Got no ninjutsu with it, and I'm no master with it. So I don't think I would be good enough to teach you much"

"How about we start with that?"

"Uh, I think teaching you the first thing I learned is better" He replied.

Yahiko frowned, mumbling something about it being more fun.

"How do we that?" Konan asked.

"Well...How do I explain this?" Naruto scratched his head. "It's within you, you kinda have to mediate to find it. So you search, and once you find it, it shouldn't be too hard to bring it out. It's not the hardest part though, another is learning control"

"So, uhm, first step find your chakra, step two, bring it out, step three, focus your chakra and try to control it I guess. I was told that's the exercise what you gotta do until it becomes natural, like walking"

"Are those the steps you do every time you try to do something, like ninjutsu?"

"Pretty much, But that doesn't count a whole lot of other stuff you gotta do after"

"Like what?" He asked curiously. There was a lot of questions, and he didn't know how to explain it.

"Let's go there after. So the first year isn't much different than a civilian school, like math and grammar, history was about ninja mostly."

They looked at him, like they were expecting something before he found something else to say. He taught Konohamaru the rasengan and the shadow clone, but it definitely felt much different than it currently was.

"So, the first thing I learned is how to access my chakra, which I guess is the same thing you should do, do the tiger hand sign, which is like this and try to raise it. I don't expect you to access it that easy though"

"Don't worry Naruto, We'll get it done as quickly as possible" Yahiko declared. Konan nodded in agreement.

He fingered the metal piece in his ninja pack. "I'm sure you know this by now, but you're given this when you completed shinobi training"

He took out Sasuke's headband, with the scratched horizontal line down the entire length.

"This one belonged to my best friend..." He sighed. The others were silent.

"So he belonged to the Hidden Leaf?"

"Used too, the line across means that he abandoned it"

The two were silent. He never got the chance to get him to return.

"So I've been thinking" Yahiko started. "If we do want be a group, who should be the leader?"

"Oh, We'll all be one, Y'know like a Co-kages" He replied.

"I was- I just wanted to see if you were on the same page is all" The kid mumbled.

"Heh, I think you should try and get started on accessing your chakra, so it becomes second nature. Then...Well I'll think of something when we get there"

* * *

><p>The next couple of weeks continued like that, Konan and Yahiko both attempting to access their chakra. He was still recovering his chakra, which made him frown. It didn't take nowhere near as long, a couple days at most. How long had it been? Weeks.<p>

**"**Maybe if you weren't training everyday you'll know for sure how long it takes for you to recover" Kurama replied, yawning.

"I can't help it, I can't really afford to stay rusty in a time like this"

"Sure, as long as you don't push yourself too hard"

"Yeah, Yeah. " He retorted. The thing was that he didn't really know what to do, he made sure not to use too much chakra when training. So when he returned from anything physical, he would just stand around, or lay down all day.

Often he tried making a one handed rasengan, he was able to make one without the help of Kurama or a shadow clone. Except he still needed both hands.

There was a lot of down time, waiting for whenever Nagato would should. If he would at all. He wasn't even sure if they were in the location where they would meet Nagato.

He was able to steal some rubber balls, some of which was laying around in the cave. Yahiko was playing with one right now, as he laid on his bed and throwing it into the air. He wanted to make create a one handed rasengan, that was thing that he had always worked on nearly every off day.

"Just a suggestion, maybe you can try sealing?" Kurama stated. "I've been thinking that since you seemingly can't sustain quite as long anymore, you might want to try that. It'll give some utility"

"Sealing ninjutsu, I don't even know a whole of it" Kurama didn't seem to bother replying, perhaps bored with his conversation already. Still it gave him so thought, maybe when...his master appeared he could learn.

He knew that only some needed hand signs, some with deep concentration, some can be done with only loose amount, others needed to be written. Several techniques required near flawless precision. Some seals needed a long prep time, while others short. Some needed to be done with ink infused with chakra, while others could be done afterwards. The few that required rituals... There was probably too many for him to list.

It was all confusing, one that gave him headache. He guessed however, that he could brush up on his skills with writing, it would get his mind off from just sitting around all day.

So he had decided to try and learn sealing ninjutsu. At least at one point.

* * *

><p>"Naruto what are you doing?"<p>

"Hmm..."He saw Konan looked at him curiously as he sat trying to write. "Just practicing my writing, it's for seals."

Not to mention that he decided to draw the diagrams of different hand seals. Needless to say his drawing skills really weren't all that much to look at. So he had scrapped the incoherent mess of scribbles before redrawing it, and redrawing it. There was bag of trashed paper at his feet, with both sides drawn with his practice. He thought he was a much better artist than this.

"Oh, okay, think I can borrow some paper?"

"Go ahead" As he focused on his sloppy writing skills. He definitely needed to work on that, at the very least no crooked lines and curves.

The sun had already set, with only a battery powered lantern lighting it up inside. Yahiko was already asleep, tired from accessing his chakra. They had completed doing that, so he had them stressing their chakra repeatedly. He had compared it to muscles, keep stressing it to build more strength. It most often led to them calling it a night early.

He heard the numerous paper folding that Konan did as he practicing putting down lines. Right now, his thoughts were centered around where Killer Bee might be. Perhaps he was somewhere in the warring nations or back at the Hidden Cloud. Where ever it was, they would likely meet each other at some point. It wasn't like the nations were friendly again.

"You know you and Yahiko are plenty alike?" Drawing him away to Konan sitting opposite of him.

"Really? How?" He asked, his eye twitched as he messed up a line on the paper.

"You two look alike, and agree with the same things. Although, he's not that great of a talker"

He blinked, "Huh..." He was most likely agree with whatever Yahiko would say, simply because he wanted to Nagato to come. He looked quizzically at her, but she didn't elaborate.

Instead, she slid a origami of a crane to him. "I wanted to thank you, for being a friend"

With all the thoughts on seals, he wondered if all her paper was a product of seals, or maybe it was more like those puppets.

"That's pretty cool" There was no way in hell he could ever figure out stuff like that. He carefully inspected the piece. He never really got any gifts before, other than his father, the only other thing he ever got from someone was from Hinata and Iruka. Some medicinal cream container that was lost from Pain's attack, and the forehead protector some weeks before. He lost both of them now.

"I'm glad you like it, My mother taught me."

She mumbled something about going to bed as he eyed the crane that had settled in front of him. Thoughts about how to preserve such a fragile thing.


	6. promises

**Chapter 6**

Two months later

This scouting run had went terribly wrong. Not only were they cut off from the direction to their camp, but they were completely separated from one another. Mikoto didn't have a clue where the hell her other teammates were.

She caught her breath, deep rhythmic inhales. The only sound was the constant, loud droppings of rain. She strained to see anything with her sharp eyes, trying to catch any slight off set of moving other than the leaves bouncing from the rain. She tried to hear any sound that was unfamiliar.

It was safe for now, as it looked it. She reached into her tool bag and took out a bandage to patch a wound on her arm.

Perhaps these events wouldn't have happened if her scouting runs hadn't been pushed further beyond and more frequently, to ensure such a breach would never occur once again.

_'Damn that guy...If he hadn't...'. _She took a calming breath and focused. _'I can't blame others for my own misfortune'_

Although a shred of thought still remained, perhaps that if he hadn't infiltrated their camp and made a fool out of everyone, that they wouldn't be in this situation.

Their jonin commander had abandoned them, and had taken the map and compass that would make the trek back more safely and easier.

They might have been able to find their way back by memory but they were being relentlessly chased by enemy shinobi. Their little scouting party had grown by two, a single genin and chuunin. One that Mikoto knew, Akira. They had grown a little closer in friendship in the month that they worked together.

Despite their grown size, they were completely outmatched and outnumbered to compete with the enemy shinobi. They had been completely caught off guard and they had met with a fatality along with two others were injured.

They had encountered with another larger scouting force, or an infiltrating force, it didn't really matter at the moment. They had been cut off from their retreat toward their camp and their Jonin had left them for dead. She cursed her captain, wishing he would die a painful death.

With the bleeding on her arm halted with the bandage, she was able to start moving before their sensory shinobi zoned in on her location.

She wondered where the other two she was with had gone off to, and if they were still alive. Her eyes caught some movement behind the cover of leaves and she immediately threw some shuriken and prepared a few hand signs.

"Whoa it's me!" Seeing a blur of movement fall from behind the cover. Her eyes quickly captured and recognized the person, she let out a sigh of relief. "You almost shot a fire style techniqeu at me..." Akira said as she stood.

"Well... I either take action or die" She replied. Mikoto confirmed her chakra with her sharingan, making sure it wasn't just some transformation.

"Right..."She replied, she took a few jumps to get on another branch.

"Where's Jiro?" The Uchiha asked. She saw her friend's shoulder's sag slightly, a sorrowful expression filled her. Another other chuunin and gone off on his own, no doubt hoping that the larger group of three would attract their attention.

Mikoto was a little saddened over the death of a teammate, but also a little thankful that she didn't know him. This was no time for grieving, they had to escape. Now there was only her and Akira left.

"Let's go, we have to get out of here"

* * *

><p>"Where the hell is Nagato?" Naruto cursed. He jumped from the slippery branches of the trees.<p>

He yawned, he was hours away from sprinting distance from his friends. He had slipped away on his own to try and find Nagato on his own. He had left on his little quest and had secured a map to find his way back and other potentials hotspots.

The geography of Ame wasn't very large, the trek across from border to border could be made in most in one day or so. Except there was a war going on and there several sides of the war, so the travel would be much larger.

He remembered Nagato saying that there was Konoha Shinobi that had killed his parents. He made the assumption that Nagato was somewhere either on the eastern or southern side since they controlled most of the country.

"Also, it's pretty depressing when it never stops raining " He complained to himself. There was hardly any days when it didn't rain.

The fighting hadn't arrived where they were located, he assumed it was because that's where most of the shinobi of Ame were centered around. Hanzo was no doubt nearby where they stayed, knowing of how powerful he was. No doubt people were going to avoid them, but Hanzo was also trying to get the invaders out of the country.

He kept count of how long he had been here. Three months and three weeks. Perhaps trying to forget the 'past' was a little harder than he thought.

He stopped for a moment and took out a map the was coated with some sort of plastic to make sure it wouldn't ruin. Although the borders on the map seemed a bit larger than he remembered.

He quickly searched any nearby settlements, for any hint of where Nagato stayed. The good thing was there was no hint of Jiraiya or his teammates nearby, and there was no fights that Hanzo had participated in nearby.

Folding the map, he headed towards a nearby town to see if there was any trace of Rinnegan bearer. He had also sent some clones to the more smaller settlements.

Finding Nagato and making sure he would stay the path. That was detail that would set a small step in his plan. Kurama had said, that their plan would take years to accomplish.

Such as, gathering the help of other Jinchuuriki's in their time. The help of the other Biju would be invaluable towards their goal of world peace. Except...There was going to be trouble when the five great elemental nations knew when their containers were disappearing. As he knew, The tailed beasts were used as a deterrent to war.

He had felt some of the other biju's chakra far in the distance, to the east and to the south. None however, was felt from Kurama that was sealed within his mom.

_'I wonder how she is doing?_' He was feeling a little anxious of meeting her. He wasn't entirely certain about when he was going to go about that though. The fox had said that he still contained all of the other tailed beast's chakra, which might a key to persuading them.

He wished he got concrete and accurate information, instead of guessing the time of which events occurred. If he knew every single thing, the personal history of everyone of his friends. He would have done everything he could have to help them.

He had some passing knowledge of the ninja wars, but he didn't expect to come this far. Kurama had told him he might have come at least within a few months before, not nearly a decade.

Naruto had taken a look at the current year, a full nine years before he was even born and when Obito had attacked Konoha. It felt so far away. He didn't have a clue what would change when he caught up with that time.

He shook away those far away thoughts, he still had to focus on finding Nagato. Which required his immediate attention. He didn't think that he would actually find him, perhaps if he used sage mode...

He stopped on a large branch, feeling it was worth a try. He attempted to stay still, like if he was a lifeless rock just waiting for the world to pass by.

He felt his movements, stuttering involuntary, trying to enter sage mode was nearly impossible right now. He took a deep breath to try and settle down but it felt worthless. He knew the cause, he was restless and anxious, the events of his past still deeply bothered him. The state of inaction of the past two months left little to be desired.

He needed to relax more, but how?

He felt the memories of a shadow clone coming into his head. "Hmm?"

Naruto looked over towards the direction where the clone went. Northwest to where he stood now, he decided to take a look and he quickly sped towards that direction. Feeling several more pop in his head, he made more shadow clones to continue on searching.

* * *

><p>"Just run Akira..." Mikoto stated tiredly to her. As they continued their desperate pace.<p>

The clothes that had been weightless a few days ago now felt like she was carrying a ton a rubble on her. She was soaked to the bone, chills kept rocking through her spine. Her thoughts only centered on trying to keep her legs moving, to not make a misstep.

"I'll hold them back..." Truthfully... She thought about leaving her behind, several times in fact. All to save her own skin. Except she carried a conscience, she would be a hypocrite if she did the same as her 'comrades'.

She didn't think she could ever face Kushina if she ever did something like that. They had finally been able to get back to the general direction towards their camp but had walked into a trap. She thought that it was clear exit, but rock ninja seemed to be incredibly good at hiding their presence.

They had been able give them the slip, mostly unharmed. She felt the searing hot gash that ran across her cheek, blood struggling to gush out and covered only by a ripped out cloth that she kept pressure on with a hand. The other cuts and aches that she felt was relatively minor compared to it.

"I can't leave you behind..." She heard her whine. Mikoto was a little glad about that, perhaps that not all people did hate the Uchiha's arrogance. Perhaps she did find a friend after all.

"You do see me bleeding right?" She retorted. She was no medical ninja but even she knew at the pace she was going, she would pass out from blood loss if she couldn't make a halt to it. That would take time, which they didn't have.

She was still a little thankful that her eyes had saved her from the more experienced Kenjutsu user. If she survived today, she would a nasty scar under her right eye.

She still felt the adrenaline pumping through her, her heart pumping desperately. That wasn't a good thing, sprinting didn't help either.

"If we continue like this... I'll pass out and we'll both be dead with you trying to carry me" Feeling the sticky blood on her hand, she felt it was time to change her hasty bandage.

"Then I'll stay back" She was a little touched once again, but she had to be realistic.

"You know how that'll end...I'm much better than you, I can hold them off longer with my eyes too. Besides, I have the highest chance to get away from them"

"But-"

"They're catching up, pretty soon they'll get both of us" Mikoto replied. "You go...I'll stay behind"

She stopped her sprinting and came to a halt. Akira quickly realized this and stopped a few meters in front.

"I can't let a non-Uchiha show me up" She joked. Although the manner came off more serious. She was more tired than she thought.

"Are you sure?..." The blond asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, just go, I have a chance to give them another slip" Mikoto turned around to face where the Shinobi would come from. It was a rather miniscule chance, but it was still there. So it was good enough for her.

She tried to recall how many shinobi that were giving chase, seven if she counted right, three had been taken down. They had lost four men, perhaps that if their Jonin hadn't left them for dead they might've had taken them down.

"Just tell Kushina that I made her proud okay?" She added. The raven haired individual had told a little of her friend, her best friend. It was the only thing she had to say, there wasn't quite enough time for last words.

"...Okay" She heard some rustling and the receding steps over the sound of the falling rain. Perhaps some of the rock ninja would chase after her, or not.

A powerful Kekkei Genkai would probably be desirable for them, they would take measures to ensure her capture, a lowly clan less shinobi was meek compared to her. She still couldn't hold back her shiver of disgust at the thought of being captured.

There was no way that she would be subject to that or anything of that potential. It would bring eternal shame to her clan, allowing another village to capture her precious eyes.

They weren't like the Hyuuga clan; so terrified and unsure of themselves that they had to take measures for their eyes to not be captured. No, she would destroy her own eyes and kill herself before she allowed that to happen. It was expected of her and all Uchiha in the clan.

She dug into her tool pouch and brought out a bandage. She ripped a part of her long sleeve and replaced the blood soaked one on her wound. She quickly tightly tied the bandage around her face to help around to still the bleeding gash, so she wouldn't have to hold it anymore.

She felt a little light headed over her blood-loss, but she forced herself to concentrate on buying time. She activated her eyes to quickly take heed of surroundings to help formulate a plan.

To her left was a small lake, about several hundred meters in diameter. She stood within a crowded forest, while she might've used it for her own advantage is they did have a sensory type ninja. Not to mention that they too might use it. So It seemed to her that fighting in the sea of trees would be a bad idea.

To her left led to a deeper part of the forest, if she simply relocated they would still give chase to both of them.

She had to make her stand here. She started throwing kunai tied with paper bombs amongst the trees. She worked quickly, making sure that she used all she had in her inventory.

It would have to do. She quickly made her way onto the lake. She had to lure the pursuing group into a open place. They couldn't take cover, but she couldn't either.

It was far too dangerous for numerous places to hide in, She could not be blinded side as it would be easier for them to capture her. In the open ground and with her eyes she would be able to keep track of them, and to lower the possibility of that happening.

She felt a trail of heat on her cheek from the blood, she attempted to lower the rate of her heart. It hadn't been that long since she stayed behind, but it certainly felt like time had slowed to a crawl. From the earlier scuffles and running, she felt her chakra reserves were only about a a fifth of their usual strength, she would have to make it count.

She grabbed her bottle to down a sip of water, before another idea sprung to mind. She wrapped was left of her paper bombs around the bottle, before placing it to where she thought they might land. It stayed afloat, thankfully, now it just didn't need to move much. They might lower their guard in such a open space, it would leave them exposed.

Now, all that was needed was to wait.

Eventually, in some cases when you expect to die, or come very close to it. She started thinking about regrets she might've harbored.

What did she have planned for a future? Sixteen years of age wasn't a long life. Her birthday only three months away. The war made her mature faster, like what it did for everyone around her age.

All she thought about was to serve her clan and village. It was a unrealistic to hope for a miracle. _'A family...'_ She guessed that's what she desired later in life, to stay at home and care for her children.

Perhaps another Uchiha, or someone strong to ensure their protection. That's what Kushina wanted for herself, to be happy. Perhaps that's what she desired mostly, merely happiness and from whatever form it took.

Mikoto chuckled in amusement, It's what most normal people wanted. Wars didn't accomplish that, it was easy to see that. To find happiness in her life, she would actually have to survive here. Stall them, and then make a desperate run for it.

Her eyes captured movement in the trees, hiding behind trunks and the like. She waited to confirm the amount. She only saw four of them, either the others were out of sight behind the trees or they were the rest were a part of a backup unit in case all of them were caught in a trap.

She easily dodged a few shuriken and kunai thrown her way and quickly activated the paper bombs in the trees. The sound of faint sizzling within the trees overtook the rain, no doubt they could hear it too.

She went through hand signs and heard some explosions sound in the tree line. The paper bombs were lined in a boxed pattern to force them out of the trees, with a few a inside the square.

A field would have been more preferable but she had to make do with the lake instead. She saw five ninja appear from out of the trees as she finished her hand signs. She stalled, waiting for the one in the lake to explode.

They landed, and a geyser of water shot up through the air, the water that stung her felt like debris that had been thrown at her. She lost track of them of them with all the water that had spurted out, but that didn't matter all that much. If she couldn't see them, then they couldn't either.

She released the signature fire style technique of her clan, the Grand Fireball towards where two of them had landed. She made it larger than usual, and she felt noticeably felt the drain on her.

The heat of the fiery ball caused the rain and water to evaporate, creating steam that festered in the air. She wasn't sure if she heard screams or not, the explosions and chaos caused her hearing to dampen.

Only one stood to face her on the lake, before another broke the surface of the water and picked himself back up. She heard the cries of agony of someone of in the forest, somewhere in the trail of destruction she had wrought from her fire technique and explosive tags.

She ignored it, focusing on the two that stood before her. They glared at her while the screams receded. They scrutinized her as they whispered quietly whispered among themselves. The red they wore, along with the symbol of their Headband symbolizing that they were rock shinobi.

The screams died down, and she assumed that they had perished. She thought quickly, there was still an unknown number missing from their group.

_'I won't have much time until the rest arrive ' _She had been able to take down two, It was looking like she might escape. She placed a shaky hand on the hilt of a kunai born from adrenaline and her icy hands.

There wasn't any hint to if anyone of them was the sensor. So she would have to take these two out, and hope that anyone of them was the sensor.

They avoided looking directly into her eyes, so she could not cast an illusion among them. One of them looked to be a jonin, and appeared to be in her late-twenties. She was no elite ninja yet, so this would be a fight for her life.

_'Another jonin will be coming soon'._ The kenjutsu user wasn't among them, and she didn't know the capabilities of the one in front of her.

It was still two against one, she didn't really stand a chance unless she captured one with her genjutsu. She would have to heavily utilize her chakra to even have a remote chance of survival.

The female jonin seemed to have finished her orders, Mikoto couldn't hear them from the distance and over the sound of the rain.

With looks of determination and malice, she knew they had formed a plan. The wait was torturous, her aching limbs and exhaustion only heightened it. She spotted the tensing in their legs and arms, showing that they were now making her move.

Completing another series of hand signs she was determined to break their offensive. This time the phoenix flower. She saw the Jonin go through some hand signs and they stopped in their tracks. _'Water style?'_

A torrent of water formed from the lake and shielded them from the fiery torpedoes. Before she could react, her eye's captured the bullets forming from out of the wall and launching themselves at her with tremendous speed.

She twisted and turned, in a attempt to dodge them. She gasped in pain as she felt one land a hit on her shoulder. She launched herself away, feeling another one hit her ribs.

Ignoring the pain, A flash of movement caught her eye, her chuunin opponent preparing to use a tanto that he carried to end her. She saved her own life when their eyes met. She casted a genjutsu, and landed a kick that sent him flying back.

She threw a few shuriken at the chuunin, that was easily deflected by that jonin with her own. Deciding that it was a brief chance to escape, as she still had to either give chase or break her companion out of the genjutsu. Giving her a head start or a one versus one death match.

She winced at the pain centered around her ribs, her attack might have broken some, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to run away. She turned, sprinting through the pain that pulsated in her abdomen.

"No" She panicked, seeing a lot of movement within the trees to her right. She was being flanked and intercepted, her hopes dwindled, but she could at least try. She hastily entered the forest, and kept racing through as she prepared for an escape. She kept high in the branches to go faster.

Multitasking, making sure she was behind trees for cover so that she wouldn't be caught by any tools or techniques. She had a small lead, but they would quickly catch up. She dug into her tool bag and took out some wire, tying it around shuriken and kunai. Her eyes were invaluable as she quickly wove them together, making a several pairs of wire connecting with shuriken.

She stopped, only to briefly fire some kunai at the base of several trees, sinking in deeply before throwing their connecting shuriken along several other trees. She knew and trusted her skills enough to know that they had fastened tight.

It would buy some precious seconds, but it would be better with bait. A thought flashed, and she remembered the blond guy with his shadow clone. She formed it without second thought.

She underestimated her chakra, and felt the precious remaining continuously drain with her usage of the sharingan, alongside the shadow clone. Perhaps it was her stamina that was low. Her gamble had paid off, her desperation to survive made her take sacrifices. The clone formed beside her.

Her vision darkened, and she nearly stumbled but she was conscious. She felt her eyes recede to their normal onyx color. With no time to waste she started running as fast as her legs could take her.

Eternal bliss spoke to her, to just give up and fall. She didn't even realize that someone had grabbed a hold of her.

"Akira?" Recognizing the mess of blond hair and form. "Why did you come back?"

"I couldn't leave you behind" She voiced her concerns, and Mikoto felt a second wind come to her, as they started to run. She let go of the little support she had before she gasped in shock.

The ear splitting thunder-like screeches sounded behind them, with a dreadful howl of wind accompanying it, she forcefully pushed aside Akira, and she felt a brief weightlessness before her vision faltered. Absolute pain was felt all around her body, every movement, every time her heartbeat pain would constantly flash.

He limbs would not obey her commands, nor could she even think of moving them. She wanted nothing more but to lay still.

It took a moment before she realized where she was and what was occurring. Her face was throbbing, her eyesight greatly blurred, the world shook.

There was blond girl on the ground, two forms hovering over her. She struggled to recall who she was. Indecipherable words were spoken by the two towering people.

"Akira?" Mikoto replied. Their situation, the danger that they were in came forth to her mind. The shinobi that bore the blade stood over her, a wordless reply came from Akira.

The sword rose over her, before it descended. Pain flashed in her eyes, and watched as the life slowly drained out of her. She was speechless, and there was nothing left in her dull eyes. Leaving only a empty husk.

She willed herself to try and stand, but before she could she lift her face off the rocky terrain, the world nearly faded away as a new pain grasped the back of her head. She struggled to even find coherence.

"Don't... it's a Uchiha" She heard the muffled talks as she struggled to catch air. _'Am I?...'_ She couldn't allow herself. _'I have to-'_

She cried in pain as she felt something pierce her leg. Her body no longer obeyed her commands, she felt her vision fading. She couldn't even move her mouth to voice her protest. _'No...'_

She was cast away into nothingness.

* * *

><p>He stood on the water's surface, surveying the wreckage that had been wrought. It was easy to spot the smoke, and he knew that the town where he had lost his headband was somewhere nearby. The rumbles that he heard definitely weren't thunder, but by paper bombs.<p>

Smoke came from the a part of woods, where he had found two bodies of rock shinobi. On the other side of the lake, a line of trees were bent from a technique. He recalled seeing something similar back when he first took his chuunin exams.

He investigate the broken trees, finding trees blown apart, the trees uprooted or broken from whatever force it was. At the end of the line he saw the body of kunoichi, he had heard the ruckus only a minute before so perhaps there was a chance she could be saved.

He rushed to her, flipping her to find her lifeless eyes. He saw the symbol of the leaf on her headband before a sizzle brought his attention to her torso, a paper bomb. On impulse, he ripped it off, finding Kurama's chakra and extending the arm a safe distance away before it exploded.

His ears heard the faint whistle of thrown tools, he revealed Kurama's head to protect him from the many tools. Several fuma shuriken as well as kunai harmlessly pressed against his cloak before he dispelled it.

Six shinobi revealed themselves, surrounding him. One of them carried a bound kunoichi, before carelessly dropping her to the ground.

"A fight? Try not to be reckless with chakra" He heard Kurama grumble. "Especially mine, both our recovery times will likely not be the same again"

"Bastards, a dirty trick like that?"He voiced. Ignoring Kurama's protests.

They ignored him, talking amongst themselves.

"What the hell was that yellow flash? Is he a part of the Hyuuga clan?"

"No, He doesn't have the eyes"

"Another kid, but still a shinobi, come to save the Uchiha"

"Shut up, let's take him out quick"

There was a standoff, as he eyed any of them for any sign of movement. He was outnumbered, so he would have to take the first move for an advantage. As soon as he made a sign for the shadow clone they moved against him.

Several pairs of clone engaged, much to their surprise. He jumped to the nearest one, his kick was blocked, before another one of his clone came in, punching him in the face and sending him to the ground. His clone went to engage another as he forced stepped on the knee of his opponent. He screamed out in pain as loud snap was heard, he would live, but he wouldn't be fighting at the moment.

Some memories of lost shadow clones, another was engaging with large rock covered fists. Creating another shadow clone, he quickly created the rasengan in his hand. He sped forth towards the most prominent danger.

Naruto nearly caught him blind sighted, just as he was about to make contact, he made a wall with his fist. His rasengan grinded against the earth, and his defense didn't matter as the concussive force of his technique sent him disappearing in the crowded forest.

The numerous snapping of twigs and branches were heard as another clone jumped after him to make certain he wouldn't get up.

He saw a brief flash of movement overhead as another shinobi were a sword took a swing at him. He dodged, pulling out his father's kunai and parrying another swift strike. He was put on the defensive with fast strikes that he would catch. He saw the frustration build on his face. He was fast, but he met faster opponents like the Raikage's.

He caught the katana between the between the blades of the kunai, he channeled wind chakra and easily sliced through the folded steel. Surprised and off balanced, Naruto took advantage and stabbed the jonin in the arm, dropping his weapon.

With a kicking sweep, he fell to the wet ground and Naruto placed a kunai at his neck.

"Just do it already" He grunted.

Naruto looked around, finding all five shinobi- along with one kunoichi - out of commission, either knocked out or subdued. He found the unconscious form of the most likely leaf shinobi still placed where her captors left her.

"Nah, not what I'm here for" He stood up, ignoring whatever what was said by him as he walked over to the hostage.

His gaze brought him to the other leaf kunoichi. He was still a part of the leaf, he carried the will of fire within him. He couldn't just leave her there. He ordered a shadow clone to carry his dead comrade, as he unbounded the one at his feet.

She laid almost lifelessly in his arms, but she breathed faintly. Bloodied bandages was wrapped her arm, and along the length of her cheek. Her face was bruised, swelling, along with being bloody and dirty. Her clothes were soaked, her skin was cold to touch. She was practically dead. Her wounds didn't seem to be exactly fatal however, nor was the cuts too deep.

"Think you can help her Kurama?"

"Yeah, what I can do for her is nothing compared to the wounds I can heal for you" he replied.

Grunting in acknowledgement, he channeled chakra through her, and a red cloak surrounded her. Lifting the bandage on her face, he found the gash was sewing itself back together. It was pretty weird to witness first hand.

There was something recognizable about her, before recalling that she was the one that he had fought a top the roof.

"Well, what a coincidence" He muttered. Looking behind him, the forms of writhing shinobi along with ones cursing his village. It looked significantly darker than it was minutes before, so it must have been pretty late. The never ending sea of clouds also didn't help with the light.

He would have to find some shelter before it got too dark, not to mention he was wet, he always seemed to be wet.


	7. Utterly Gutsy

Chapter 7

"Well this is awkward" Naruto commented. Mostly about the situation he was in. He unwrapped the bloody bandages around her face and arm, and threw them into the fire that he made. He untied the wet headband and left it beside her.

She was unconscious, but she was shivering, so it likely she was experiencing hypo- something. Whatever. What he did know was that if she didn't find some warmth she would die.

He unzipped the Uchiha's flak jacket, the green vest was soaked through and through, with not just water either, seeing bloodied stains on it. The same could be said of her pants and long sleeve shirt. He couldn't just leave her like that; in soaked, dirty, ragged, cold clothes.

He found a very tiny cave, just by chance as he was passing through. It was likely less than an hour away from the town where she was stationed. The place was well hidden, surrounded by various trees and bushes. The cavern was only large enough to sit in, and only reached a few meters in the cliff they were in.

Naruto didn't think walking through the night with his chakra form that lit up his position like light bulb was the greatest idea.

She was obviously still unconscious, and he had only given her enough chakra so that her wounds would heal. The connection between their chakra was made, so she would always have a piece of Kurama's chakra within her.

The girl was lain on a the floor, he had a small blanket with him, but the rest of his supplies he had left with Konan and Yahiko. So he didn't have a whole lot to warm her up other than the small fire that was brewing.

_'Well, I got my jacket and rain coat' _

His rain coat covered up to his knees, and his jacket would cover up her small frame. To even make sure that she wouldn't get sick or possibly die, he would have to take off her soaked clothes. He pulled down the zipper on her flak jacket and it pulled apart.

"Now I feel like a perv" He stated.

"Only if you think those thought's Naruto" Kurama interjected.

"Well you're definitely not helping" Sighing, he created a shadow clone to go fetch any firewood. He gave it a flashlight for aid in the dark. It would take awhile before His clone actually found any, since the rain made it more difficult.

"Screw it" He kneeled over the girl once again before he thought of a brilliant plan. "Kurama..."

"What do you want?

"Do this for me" He asked. He was only met with silence before it finally answered.

"You can't be serious..."

"I am..." While he would eventually do it. He didn't want to have any perverse thoughts, he didn't want to become like his masters. Reading adult material and peeking on women.

"Go fuck yourself " Kurama simply said.

Naruto found himself within the seal where the fox was kept. Kurama himself had a disbelief look on its face.

"You're an asshole if you think I'll do that, especially for an Uchiha"

"Oh come on! This is why we're here aren't we?" The blue eyed question. He made up some other reason to help convince him. "I mean, If we're going to change the Uchiha we might as well start with one right?"

**"**HA! Sure, but how will undressing an Uchiha help?"

"Well for starters, she might get too cold and die, all you need to do is take off her wet clothes and put my jacket and coat on her"

As he took off said apparel and set it aside the raven haired girl. He didn't hear Kurama's reply, and within the seal he didn't respond to any other words that he said. In fact, he was pretty sure he was being intentionally ignored.

"You're useless Kurama, we're supposed to be partners " He cried.

He turned his attention to the Uchiha, breathing unsteady, deathly pale skin with blue lips, she continued to shiver. He sighed and prepared to give his attention. He dug into his small bag and took out a small towel, along with a small blanket for her to sleep on. It was better than the cold rock.

Another sigh escaped from him and lifted her torso, struggling to get the flak jacket off. He tossed it aside and started on her long sleeve, it was much more difficult to get out with how more tightly it fit around her. Not to mention the wet fabric that just made it harder.

He grunted in frustration as she had an undershirt on, and to his dismay- but unsurprisingly- soaked. So he took that off and resisted looking at her with just a bra on.

He awkwardly held on to her as he patted her torso dry with the towel, so nothing else would get wet as he told himself repeatedly. Except her wet bra, he imagined the pervy sage saying that, accompanying with other suggestions.

Naruto placed the blanket under her, along with his jacket so that she lay on top of it. Before moving on to her pants. It was even worse than before. Again, he imagined the perverted sage saying how this was to be the first instance of how he took off a girls pants, and how it still counted.

Why was he being constantly thinking of him now? Damn did he miss him.

With her wet clothes settled in a pile, he wrapped his red jacket around her and zipped it up. He ignored the mounds on her chest that showed on his jacket, also a good thing that it went past her thighs. She was around his age, and it showed.

"Thank god it's over" As he placed his rain coat over her, for even more warmth. He checked over his supplies but only found a half filled water bottle and two rice balls. He would have to find supplies later, right now it was far too dark to even look for a town. So the only thing he could do now is wait and watch over her.

* * *

><p><em>Silver, sharp and long. The blade reflected the surrounding light, shadows loomed over her. Droplets fell around her pained face. Mikoto looked up at the attacker, and it descended.<em>

Gasping awake, her eyes shot open in alarm. She saw the dim low rocky ceiling fill her vision. She heard the crackling of a fire to her right as well as the thunder and rain.

_'Wasn't I?...'_ She could smell the musky scent of whatever she was covered by, which smelled like some sort of soup. Most of her clothes seemed to have been taken off, with the exception of her undergarments. She was dry, and she was warm. A feeling much preferable.

For a quick moment she worried, but she felt her limbs were not bound like she expected. Instead it was jacket that she had been placed in, red in color. She turned towards the light of the fire, to see the rest of her clothing hung up beside to dry.

The fireplace was placed just outside the cave, just out of the path of the falling rain. It was dark, the only source of light was came from the fire. The sound of thunder, or explosions sounded in the distance.

It was odd, she didn't feel like she was at death's door. She couldn't feel any of the stinging sensations of her wounds. She crept her hand up to her right cheek where she was slashed across. To feel nothing swollen, or any hints of an outline of a scar. It just disappeared.

Mikoto did however feel exhausted, drained, clumsy, weak.

She could only think that someone with an expertise in medical ninjutsu had healed her. Except medical ninja were far and between, only working on life threatening wounds and such. They were severely overworked and wouldn't bother with such an unnecessary task. The best that they would do is stitch it up, if someone else couldn't do it.

"You owe me y'know? Y'know how awkward it was to undress you?"

_'Y'know?'_ It sounded awfully familiar. A flustered Kushina came to mind.

She sat up, feeling tender and faced towards the direction of the voice. There, sitting opposite of her against the wall of the cave, was a boy, or rather a young man. The flames of the fire partly lit up his features.

At first she thought it was Minato, with the similar blond hair, the blue eyes, and even his facial shape. Except the difference was the three whisker marks on his face. She swore that he had looked familiar, other than looking like he was the long lost brother of Minato.

"Who are you?" She asked. It was clear that she wasn't being held captive, in fact he was looking flustered.

"Uh, Naruto" He replied, turning to look at the fire.

"So you saved me?"

He relaxed significantly, flashing her a reassuring smile. "Sure did, you're not too far from your base I think"

He was likely thankful that she didn't bring up how she was undressed by him. Whatever it was, it was probably with good reason. She remembered feeling so cold.

"Oh, well, Thank you..." Mikoto said quietly. She shivered at the thought at what would've happened. "My name is Mikoto, Mikoto Uchiha"

He nodded. She couldn't shake this feeling that she should remember him.

"Like I said, I'm Naruto. "It looked like he was going to say more before he caught himself. "I'm an orphan so yeah..."

She realized that she had seen the vibrant blue color in his eyes before. She sent chakra to her eyes only to meet with failure, she soothed the slight pain that flared in her eyes. She was too tired to even activate her eyes.

"You hungry?" He asked. Fumbling inside the small pack that was settling beside him. She felt her stomach grumble painfully, she didn't quite remember the last time she ate.

"Yeah..." She looked up to see him handing out two rice balls, as well as a canteen. She controlled herself as she took the items from him. "Thanks..."

She quietly nibbled on her food for a few minutes. She peeked at him, he looked troubled as he continued to look at the flickering fire. "So you're a shinobi..." She stated. and occasionally took bites out of her food.

**"**You can say that" He yawned.

The clouds were very dark, her sense of time lost, whether the sun had already set or still sometime before it rose.

A silence overcame them while Mikoto tried to come up with questions. She had a sneaking suspicion, but she would have to wait a little before she could use her sharingan. She recalled the clothing that person she had fought when he had infiltrated, orange pants. Like he was wearing right now, even the jacket looked vaguely familiar.

There was no use accusing him out right on that basis, seeing his chakra signature was all she needed. He was no ordinary shinobi if he could just outwit and fight head to head with some jonin. He was capable, if her being rescued was of any indication.

"So why did you save me?" She voiced.

He seemed genuinely surprised at her question. "I mean, why wouldn't I?"

She felt silly for outright asking without giving more details. "I mean, you're not a leaf shinobi..."

His blue eyes blinked a few times before replying. "Do I really need a good reason? I saw someone in need, so I lent a hand"

Mikoto could think of several conclusions, some of them greatly unfavorable.

Mikoto stared in his blue eyed boy; his eyes spoke of loneliness, regret, frustration and sadness. A troubled soul, no different from many people during this time. Except his eyes also carried confidence and unwavering resolve.

She saw no colors or any gear that seemed related to the other villages. So it likely that he lived around these lands, with how deep they were settled in the country.

"You do know where I am from right?"

"Yup, The Hidden Leaf Village, the symbol on your head band" He replied.

"That? That doesn't bother you?" She asked. "It's a bit weird to see honestly"

He laughed, and his expression showed his amusement." Is it bad to help people?"

"No, No it's the opposite"

He smiled easily. "I'm more bothered by the war, but that doesn't have much to do with you, err, well you know what I mean"

She stayed quiet as she finished her rice ball and took a sip of the water. She looked outside, the freezing rain looked terrible to look at. She was loathing to go back out into it.

"Can I ask something?" He asked.

"Go ahead"

"Save someone from your village, or complete the mission?"

She looked at him, he looked innocent enough. "I feel like I'm being interrogated."

He blushed. "I-I didn't mean it that way y'know?"

It made her smile, even a little. It reminded her about Kushina. Thoughts turned to Akira, her fallen friend.

"Sorry, I guess I'll stop there" He said. "I was just curious about a few things"

"You can go ahead and ask them, You did save me after all"

"Maybe I- Know what, never mind, it would have been a terrible joke" He stayed silent, before he spoke more seriously, more sympathetic. "I buried the other kunoichi that was with you"

She felt her throat tighten a little, before she forced it away. "Where?"

"Just outside, you'll see the grave, her headband is on top of it" He replied.

As much as she wanted to see it, she still felt like the world was on top of her. The little energy she had left her.

"You can sleep more if you want, you look pretty tired, not to mention that your clothes are still drying. "

She nodded, uninteresting in talking any longer. She flipped the hood over her face and laid back down.

* * *

><p>Naruto took a step out of the cover of the forest and into the road. He saw the incredibly faint smoke rising a distance away, from the town he was heading towards.<p>

He was just a clone, but he was tasked with gathering extra food for Mikoto, not to mention the real him. It didn't look like he could accomplish that, not when he saw the destruction ahead of him. A small wall blocked the sight of the town. As he neared the entrance of the town, the current state was told to him. A nearby post, which he assumed would have held the name of the town was torn down.

The town was surrounded by a small wall, merely to keep out ordinary bandits or wildlife. Most sections were cracked and falling apart, either by time or the most likely, the war. He walked towards the entrance, and even with the wall blocking most of the view of the village, he could guess the destruction of the town with all the smoke and dust in the air.

A building was torn down in the street he saw, with bodies strewn along it. Reaching to the entrance, he took a deep breath and walked through the gate. He heard noise to his right to see someone turning around the corner, fleeing from him.

From what he recalled of the map, the town was small and it didn't seem like it would be a target. Of course he didn't know a whole lot about planning, but it didn't look like an important location.

_'It didn't save it at all'. _

He proceeded through the town to see if he could be of help to anyone, if they desired it. Mostly, he was just looking to see if there was anything left scavenging for the original.

The mess was chaotic as he walked deeper inside the town. Several buildings were completely torn down, rubble cluttered the streets. A building collapsed nearby, and dust was strewn into the air, further polluting it. He waited for several long minutes until he was certain no one was trapped inside.

He passed several bodies that laid on the side of the roads, he didn't think about whether there was more inside the fallen buildings. There didn't seem to be much, scavengers rummaging about but fleeing whenever they caught site of anyone.

To him, it was clear as to who it was responsible for this chaos. He even caught sight bodies of the attacking shinobi, joining them the Rain ninja defending their homes. The town was nearly deserted, but he kept hearing noise the closer to the center of town he got. Deciding to catch a peek, he decided to see what was occurring.

He climbed up a building to see whether he could catch a glimpse on the noise, which sounded like orders being shouted. _'Leaf Shinobi...'_ Seeing the familiar forest green flak jackets entering the from the east side of town.

He took an estimate that there might have been about a hundred of them. The bulk moved slowly, making sure that they wouldn't be caught in a ambush. _'They must have been pushed back...'_ It seemed most of the civilians have been evacuated.

Seeing enough of this, he turned around and made his way to the west. To see if he could gather up any supplies before his allotted time ran out before he made it back to the cave.

He was in no real danger since he was just clone, but he didn't want to have a confrontation with people from his hometown. He quickly put distance between him and the approaching invaders. He tried to search for any markets that might contain food or any gear.

_'Comrades...' _Even if it was only brief. He had fought and bled alongside the allied shinobi. They fought together to combat an evil, to protect themselves and to protect their homes. Even if it was brief, he considered everyone part of the alliance a comrade. Even if it didn't exist yet, he couldn't get the notion out of his head.

A scream pierced the air, and he turned towards the noise, which seemed to be nearby. He made his way to the approximate location and heard talking as he approached.

"Stop!" He heard a man.

"Screw off!" Another said, which Naruto assumed to be an accomplice of the other. He attached himself on the side of the two story building.

"Please don't!" He heard a woman's plea. Nearing the corner, he peeked down below to see three people in an alleyway.

Standing two meters in the path, a brown haired woman was cowering against the wall, fearing for her life. Another person face down was dead at her feet.

Two men stood in front of the woman, one handled a kunai in his hand while another held him back. Naruto saw the backs of the two, unaware that he was here._ 'What are they doing here?'_ He watched the events unfold, waiting to see what would happen before he stepped in.

"They're just civilians" The one holding the one with kunai said. He wore a bandana on his head, along with the green chuunin flak jacket.

"I don't care" The other one replied coldly. Also baring the green flak jacket. Naruto felt himself clenching his fists painfully.

"What if the enemy comes looking for us?" The man with bandana asked. The other merely laughed mockingly.

"They're all gone, and more of us coming here...So fuck off unless I need to teach you a lesson too" He threatened, roughly shrugging off the hand attached to him.

The man with the bandana shrunk from the glare he sent off before steeling himself once more. "You can't do this..." He replied to the man.

"And? What are you going to do about it?" Turning to face the man. Naruto felt his heartbeat accelerating with each and every moment. His muscles tense, aching for relief and action.

The man with the bandana took a few glances between the man and woman. _'Come on...' _Naruto begged.

"I can't watch this..." The chuunin turned away, before walking out of the alley way.

Naruto heard the whimper of the woman below. The man with the kunai turned to the woman once again. He breathlessly watched as the other ninja turned the corner and started running to the south.

'_Coward...'_ He thought. Looking down below to see the man slowly approaching the crying woman. Standing idly by while a innocent person was being threatened didn't work with him. It didn't matter if he was from the Leaf or not.

Naruto jumped down below, a slight splash from the puddle alerted the man. Before he knew it, a roundhouse kick to his side sent him away.

The woman was surprised by the his sudden appearance but was too scared to move, even with his suggestion to run. He made sure that the brunette was behind him to protect her from the man rising to his feet.

Naruto looked at the shinobi that stood before him. _' Why is he doing this?' _He saw the symbol of the headband, the chuunin flak jacket of a ninja the Hidden Leaf.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He struggled not to yell, and he caught sight of the look in his eyes.

"It's their fault...But I don't have to answer to you" The person replied. He saw a wicked smile on his face. It was one that he saw before, the look that was from some of the members of the Akatsuki. Enjoyment, pleasure at hurting others.

He felt the negative emotions of the person in front of him. The need to kill present. _'I can't just...'_ He gritted his teeth in frustration.

The man grabbed a hold of a kunai and pointed it at him. Naruto took a look at the body from earlier, a young man. Several crimson stains guttered out from multiple stab wounds.

"You're next kid"

When he looked at the dead person at his feet. He knew what he had to do. It was justice. He took a look the man preparing to attack. He prepared to channel to his elemental nature to his father's kunai. The man charged, clearly underestimating his opponent.

It lasted only for a moment.

Naruto breathed in deeply, he paid no attention to the sound of the man's head falling off of him. The body fell back onto the wet concrete, a thud, and sickening sounds were heard. He paid attention to the rain to the drown the sound away. He quickly turned away to the girl, to distract himself over what he'd done.

The woman was leaning over the body of the man. Whimpering and clutching the coat of the person. He walked over to her, but she didn't acknowledge him. He could feel the negative emotions pouring off her, as well numerous approaching ones from the south and east.

"We need to go before more come" He said emotionlessly. She didn't care to respond for another moment. A subtle nod was all he got. She caressed the young man's face, a small cry escaping from her. He looked away for her privacy as she made her silent goodbyes.

Hearing some fumbling, he saw her brandishing a backpack and covered her face with the hood of her coat.

"I'll make sure you're safe until..." He trailed off.

"Thank you..." She replied lowly. Still looking at the ground. She made her way past him and out of the alleyway. He didn't look back as he followed her out. Making their way to the western exit, he made sure to keep on guard.

Luckily, there were no more incidents. The trek outside only took a few minutes. He relaxed a little and he silently accompanied her. Deciding to protect her until she found others, they made their way on the road deeper into the country. The grieving woman made no other comments and he left her alone.

He was in disbelief. Not over for what he'd done, but over his own confusion. He'd knew that he would have to kill, but also of the negative emotions he felt.

Naruto felt it during the war, the white zetsu's all felt the same, clones. Other people from the villages were different, the people he fought with. It was distinct, because there was many of them. The allied shinobi were more unique, but he still felt their emotions. Some were similar, but differed from one another but he kept his focus on the clones.

The things he felt from the man didn't differ much from the people who were in pain, who wanted revenged, who suffered. That man just wanted to inflict pain on others, all for his own enjoyment. He was nothing more than a monster. What shook him up, his sensing abilities were unreliable from telling the monsters apart. They was almost no different from each other.

He silently hoped that when he got better with it, he could tell it apart.

Naruto wandered with the girl, until a caravan came into view. Nothing was said between them, and he wordlessly left.

He wandered around aimlessly, but he didn't care, he was just a shadow clone after all. Reflecting on his dream, he wondered about how he was going to achieve that. The distance he would go to complete it, his mission to accomplish peace through understanding.

He recalled Nagato's words that was said to him. This war involved money, simply that. A puff of smoke ended its existence.


	8. Times

**Chapter 8**

It was more brighter this time, she could see deeper inside the cave they were in. Or rather, how small it was. It ended just three feet in front of her.

She sat up, blearily. She didn't feel a whole lot better when she awoke last time. It also didn't help that had struggled to fall asleep, and stay asleep. Whenever she did, she would see the cruel smirk on the bastard...

Mikoto eyed Naruto, who didn't look too tired, but rather more troubled. She nearly voiced why, but she didn't know him that well. His eyes seemingly focused, like he was some sort of a trance.

She didn't bother him, but instead looked outside. It stopped raining for once, but -unsurprisingly- the dark clouds still hung over the landscape, the occasional thunder bellowing in the distance. She used to like the rain, the thunder, the lightning. It was beautiful to look at, while she sat at home under the protection of her home.

Now all that it would do is remind her of where she had been.

She moved, her hand reaching for the folded clothes that she assumed was hers. Naruto looked like he finally broke out of the meditative trance he was in. Whatever he was doing, maybe he was spacing out.

"Oh uh" He looked to be flustered once again, as he spotted her reaching for her clothing. "I'll just give you some privacy y'know"

He climbed out from the cave and she couldn't help but smile a little again. She trusted him that he had only done what he had too, there was also the fact that genuinely felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. So she believed that he had only done so. Hypothermia was a valid enough of an excuse, she didn't bring up, neither did he.

She dressed herself, and her clothes reeked of smoke. It was however, better than the alternative.

"Done?" He asked, standing somewhere out of sight.

"I am" She replied.

He returned, sitting himself back into his regular position as he dug into a new bag he obtained. By the fire, she noticed that there was a pot of boiling water.

"I'm not sure about you, but I need something to make me feel a better. Ramen always helps with that"

"I...I would like that" Her stomach groaned painfully at the thought of food.

Naruto smiled warmly.

Hot food. Her mouth watered, a simple prepared meal. They weren't allowed to build fires, except at their extended camp. She was a part of scouting runs, so anything hot was a luxury.

To make matters worse, even the company she was assigned to had trouble obtaining food. Their convoys lost from all sorts of problems they had encountered. Guerilla warfare tactics to destroy their supply lines. A war couldn't be maintained if supplies kept getting stolen or lost. Yet, they were still in it.

Because of that, food was sparse. Tiny portions were given, hardly enough to sustain themselves. So they had resorted to breaking into mostly empty homes and stealing food. Shops were hardly stocked, moved on and away from the battlefields of war. So the only way was to simply steal them.

Her stomach ached when the boiling water was poured into the cup, she could smell the spices. It was a familiar smell, actually, it really did smell like his jacket. One that he was putting on at the moment.

"Alright, now we just have to wait a minute"

"Do we have too?" She replied.

"Yup, otherwise the flavor, and texture of the noodles just isn't as crisp and tasty"

She exhaled through her nostrils in amusement. "You really enjoy your ramen, why is that?"

"Hmm?" He scratched his head for an answer, she really didn't think he would answer. People usually like their own foods after all just because it was tasteful. So she was surprised when he actually took her question seriously, when she was just making small talk.

"I think because... this man noticed me walking by. He smiled at me, saying if I would like to come in. I was kind of nervous, but I did anyway. He placed a steaming hot bowl of ramen in front of me, saying it was on the house"

He laughed awkwardly. "I mean, people didn't really do that kind of thing for me. I was just ignored. So I guess maybe that's it"

She mulled in her own thoughts. It didn't feel all that important, but it looked like it did to him. "That was sweet of him to do"

"It sure was, okay, it's ready now"

She was given her own utensils to use. He gave a thanks of food, and she did too as well. It was very tasty, It felt like years since she had something like this, something hot and flavorful. Maybe he wasn't so full of shit after all.

When she finished the noodles, she even downed the broth that came with it. It was a satisfying meal to say the least.

"There, that made me feel better, how about you?"

"A bit" She replied.

"Then it's good enough"

It was then when she realized that his voice sounded familiar. She remembered her thoughts yesterday, her suspicion about him. She pushed chakra into her eyes, and her sharingan flared to life. With how low her chakra was, she felt the drain, but it was enough to know that it was him that she fought above the roof top.

"It's- It's you" She said breathlessly.

"Hm? Oh, I kind of thought you knew already" Naruto replied.

It was no wonder how she actually got saved, if he was able to evade an entire contingent of shinobi, then a scouting group was likely not much a problem.

She really didn't know what to say to him.

"Where's my blade?" She asked.

"Oh, right, actually I forgot to grab it when I got the ramen. Y'know, That was selfish of me" He chuckled nervously.

From what he known of him so far, he didn't seem to be so threatening. Good natured, a bit awkward. Actually, just normal. He didn't directly harm any of the Leaf shinobi.

"Can I ask you about what happened to those who killed my team?" She asked.

He grew serious, like it bothered him. "I let them live."

She wanted to curse him, but she was able to talk herself that she had given her a chance to avenge a friend. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "You know what that man did, the one with sword? He smiled as he cut down my friend"

He was silent as he looked outside. "I was kind of afraid of that"

"What are you? A pacifist? You're not a Leaf shinobi, nor a rock. So why didn't you kill anyone?"

He mumbled something incoherently, before he began to talk clearly. "I have a goal. It's for peace"

"Peace?" She nearly spat. He wasn't doing much anywhere, not with a war going on.

"Yeah, I have people depending on me. So I aim for it, and I'm not going to much done if I just kill people. I know there are people who just enjoy to cause pain to others, or those who want revenge. However justified they might feel, I don't think it's the way to go. I want to stop that cycle..."

She couldn't help but feel that some of it was directed at her. Even before she could say a word she was interrupted.

"Trust me, I know how you feel. It was nearly impossible for me to do such a thing. Probably one of the hardest things I've ever done actually"

He seemed...so subdued when he said that. So she decided not to say anything more, she didn't feel like arguing with her savior. She didn't necessarily have to agree with him.

He sighed, "I feel like having another cup of ramen, do you?"

She hid her blush, and nodded meekly.

* * *

><p>Naruto decided to escort her back, it was only the correct thing to do. He have given her privacy when she went over the grave to where he buried her friend.<p>

He dug out the map he had, and he tried to look for where the town was, he was going off by memory of the roads he had taken. So it was likely the one a good hour away. He swept a hand through his damp hair, the rain this time around was little, but instead mist-like.

He was tired, and all he wanted was too sleep at the moment. He could keep going, with the same level as alertness, but he didn't catch any sleep. Bothered by last night's events, his uninterrupted night watch, as well as his general anxiety over not finding Nagato.

Whatever.

Mikoto looked to be done with her farewells to her friend, as she clutched her head band in her hand.

"This is the place right?" He asked. She looked over the map, as he looked at her.

'_Was she involved in the coup?' _He really couldn't help but ask himself. She seemed to be a good enough person. Still, he wasn't the same person he was last year. People change, that he knew.

"That's it" She replied.

She wasn't very talkative, but it wasn't exactly a casual occasion. "Ready?" Mikoto nodded in response.

So they began to run, they effortlessly jumped into the trees, from tree branch to tree branch. There was no conversation going on, and he wanted someone to talk too. He hadn't talked to the fox in a while either.

_"_Hey Kurama? How did we end up in the Land of Rain anyway?" He asked. A little surprised at the question, he never did it much thought. He had just accepted and did his best to cope with the situation.

"I thought you knew this"

"Er...Only the possibility of dying" It was worth it, in his opinion, he couldn't stand back and not try it. Not when there was slightest chance.

**"**Why am I surprised?" Kurama glowered, albeit with no actual malice. Although his comment didn't stop him from explaining

"Perhaps it was the technique, which you know involves space and time. The technique however, was never tested. So maybe we just ended up somewhere at random"

"Like the moon or something?"

"Yes, that means we can't trust it, " He growled with finality. "We wanted to go where when you were born and we ended up almost a decade back, add to that we somehow ended in this fucking country that doesn't seem to stop raining"

He didn't quite get why he was complaining, it's not like he was getting wet from it. He noticed however that animals, like cats did not like to get wet. Although a fox was more like a dog, his musing was interrupted by Kurama.

**"**So we can never use it again, we might end up in the sky or being stuck somewhere that is nowhere near the elemental nations. It works, yes, since we know from the one time we used it. We also know that it's not accurate, maybe we were just lucky, but I don't want to end up going completely back to where you humans were even more retarded and useless than now, at least before the old man. So we can't afford to use it again"

He chuckled, until he realized that he was being insulted, in a general way. At least his complaints provided some amusement. He decided to ignore his ramblings and answer him. "Well, good thing that we won't fail then right?"He got a grunt in response.

Otherwise it was positive notion that Kurama displayed.

They continued their run for another twenty minutes before he noticed that Mikoto was seriously slowing down. She looked like she was struggling to breath, to keep up with the pace. _'Damn, gotta pay more attention'_

He stopped before anything could happen, she wasn't showing it now, but she clearly struggling to find her breath. He jumped down to the grass down below, and Mikoto joined him in confusion.

She had lost a lot a blood the day before, and it was likely more than he had seen. He didn't know what her regular skin tone was, but she was probably more paler than usual.

"You're dizzy aren't you" He stated more than asked an question.

"What?" She gasped.

"You lost a lot of blood, I don't- "

"I can keep going" She stated breathlessly.

He wondered what would happen if they kept going. "Okay..."

He jumped up to the branch up high, and she seem to hesitate before joining him. She stepped on beside him, before she stumbled and looked like she about to faint. Naruto caught her before she fell off.

"Yeah, you sure look like you can"

Seeing a bead of sweat trail down her face, her breathing ran ragged. "Just...Just give a few minutes"

"That won't change anything I think, I wasn't able to get you any blood. You're weak, you have trouble breathing and I'm pretty sure you're more pale than usual"

She heaved heavily a few times, which only further proved his point.

"How bout I carry you?" He asked, she merely looked him before trying to stand as proud as she can.

"I'm standing aren't I?"

"Barely" He retorted. There was the Uchiha pride she had, were they all like this? Then again, Neji was like this too. How to take her down a notch? He didn't want to endanger her life by seeing how far she can go.

She looked steadfast, and eager to try and keep their pace. He jumped down below, and she followed once again.

"What are we doing?"

Putting his arms hands behind his neck and started on a slow, easy pace. "Just a stroll through the forest"

"In a war torn country? That's sounds like a terrific idea" She said sarcastically.

"So does running with the way you are"

"We can get there much quicker if we ran"

He agreed, he didn't want to walk, but this is was pretty entertaining by itself. It was like annoying Sasuke back when they were in team seven.

"Well then how about you go? You know the way right?"

She looked away, her next sentence was so quiet he barely heard it. "I wouldn't be able to protect myself"

Well, maybe Sasuke and Mikoto were a bit different. He would have never admit such a thing and perhaps even downplayed that he was in no rush either.

He couldn't even help but smile at her confession.

"Bad idea to walk? Sure is, but what would be more cool looking? You walking through the town with style, or me carrying you unconscious"

"You wouldn't, they would know you were the one who infiltrated them"

"I got my own shadow clones remember?"

She didn't reply as they kept their slow pace, nor did she look any better. She looked like might faint on the spot.

Oh god, and he was already tired of walking. He was about to take up on her offer to start with their run. Maybe a different approach was needed.

"Look, you look like shit. Like you're about to drop dead. So let me carry you and get you to an actual medic ninja. Hell, I won't tell anyone about this ever, that's my word"

"You won't tell anyone?"

"Promise, I mean it's not like I know any of your friends right?"

"I guess that makes it okay" Mikoto said.

It was good enough for him, in fact, any longer he would have just grabbed her and endured whatever complaints she threw at him. So he did just that, he grabbed her legs and carried her bridal style. She gasped in surprise as her arms wrapped his shoulders.

"What? Why can't I go on your back?"

"Why? What's the difference, I'm still carrying you" He looked at her, her face just in front of him. She looked slightly embarrassed, for some odd reason.

"That's not it, you know... never mind"

He shrugged, and jumped across the tree tops once again. He decided to drastically pick up the pace, faster than he was with an injured person. She was practically weightless in his arms.

It wasn't too hard to see that sometimes she would look at him, before looking elsewhere. They still had another half hour to go. They landscape was the practically the same. Dark clouds, with rain covering nearly everything. There was a lot of rock formations, but otherwise it was rather dull to look at anything.

So perhaps he was the only thing that was rather interesting.

"You know what I hate? The fact that showers are really impossible" Mikoto said.

"You miss showers?"

"Yes, I know it's a kind of weird thing to talk about but it's a bit awkward like this"

"Awkward? It's not so weird I think. Just think of it as always taking a shower"

"Well, are we supposed to stay silent the entire time? While we're like this too..." She replied, she looked forward. The rain picked up once more, it didn't really matter as they were already soaked, at least he had a rain jacket.

"Huh? What about it?"

"Never mind, but if you count taking a shower in ice cold water with the floor being mud and no soap, then that's your thing" She replied.

He felt a smile tug at his lips. Still, all this talking about showers was really starting to give him a reaction. It didn't help that he had a more clear picture of what she looked like. What the pervy-sage had kept calling an extra muscle, or whatever the multitude of perverted innuendos that he possessed. Whatever it was, it was always about some sort of body part.

"Gotta look at the bright side, that's really all I can do" He believed in that, it was why he said it.

"It's a nice viewpoint"

"I sure hope so, I'm sure lots of people will disagree."

"I'm sure..." She replied, going quiet. He didn't bother asking what she thought about it, but it might have been a bit positive.

It was another a while before she started talking again. He was feeling pretty good about it, she was enjoyable to talk too, it was nice to find someone around his age.

"So, you're just doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"

"Sure am"

"You don't want some kind of reward?" She replied confusingly.

Now was not the time to be thinking of a scene that Jiraiya forced to him to read. He missed the old perv, it made him kind of sad that he wouldn't be remembered.

"No need for one"

"So, a pacifist?"

"Well not exactly" He mumbled.

"You're a native, helping out someone who's a part of invading this country."

He did neglect to tell her that he was part of the Hidden Leaf, and that he still considered himself one. It was home after all.

"I find that...inspiring"

"Can we go back to talking about showers please? Or really anything Y'know, it was nothing"

She smiled a little, but nodded. He had tried to cheer her up, she had lost a friend. It made him think of Hinata and Shikamaru. They had done the same, so the least he could do is try to pass that same courtesy around.

He had lost almost all of his. Killer Bee was somewhere, where that might be he didn't know. He swallowed a lump in his throat and sped through the forest, talking idly with Mikoto.

He reached the road, the mixture of dirt and loose mud sounding beneath his feet. He spotted a sign, one that that read the town she was stationed at.

"I think it would be good idea if you walked the rest of the way. So we don't accidentally get attacked by your own people"

"Good thinking" As he let her down.

He slowed to a crawl, and then he yawned once more. He really felt like taking a nap, or sleep. It wasn't like in the war when he adrenaline kept pumping. Then there was the side effects of time travel.

It wasn't too long before they came across a patrol. A squad of four shinobi appeared from out of the brush and surrounded them

"Who are you two? I see that one of you is a Kunoichi of the Leaf" A Jonin ordered.

"Serial number 009877, I was a part of Jonin Akio's Scout squad"

"Akio's squad? Didn't they go missing?"

"Where's that dossier?" Their captain asked, the shortest one beside him handed him a small note book. He flipped several pages as they waited.

"Ah, Mikoto Uchiha, with the right serial number. A very short M.I.A. Like other Uchiha's, show us the activation of your sharingan"

He looked at her standing beside him, her sharingan spiraled to life, a two tomoe. Showing that she still had yet to fully mature her eyes.

The jonin nodded, and glared at him, his voice conveying his serious tone."Hmm, You however are not a part of the leaf Village"

"He's not, but he saved my life. He was just escorting me" Mikoto replied. The Jonin looked at her before turning his gaze to him.

"Then this is as far as you go" The jonin replied.

"Fine by me" He shrugged. She looked far better than when she was before. No longer was she gasping for breath. "Might want to get her some blood though, I wasn't able to do that"

"Don't expect an reward just because you saved her. "

He shrugged once more, and the Jonin's expression hardened and he could see the annoyance on his face. He unhooked the small pack on his back, which had some ramen cups inside.

"Here's your stuff Mikoto" He winked, there was some brief flicker of surprise. He could he not offer the rest of a fellow ramen lover. Of course, it was more likely that she was hungry, but he liked the other thought better.

"Thanks" As she shouldered the small bag.

"See ya later" He waved as he turned around and slowly walked back into the forest, careful not to agitate the Leaf shinobi. He wanted to find Nagato, so that he could find his perverted master, the toad sage Jiraiya.


	9. Chapter 9

**Important update.**

**A/N: .I have rewritten the entirety of Off Track, and every chapter have been replaced already. You may read them if you want but if you don't, I have short summaries completed below for convenience. **

**There are differences but otherwise follows the original chapters. (If anyone remembers them, haha). I've made some non-sensible choices that I would like to fix. I've increased the quality a bit, changing a few things. Below is a quick summaries of what has changed, or you may go back and reread it.**

**List of changes below.**

**Another time traveler. Killer Bee, has not appeared in story yet.**

**Naruto is 17. Wardrobe change. Red hooded jacket, sleeves are orange.**

**Mikoto is 16**

**Nagato is 10, Konan is 13, Yahiko is 13. **

**Naruto keeps his name. Made Naruto less 'idiotic'. Disturbed by failures. A 'disability' more time needed to recover, tires more easily. result of time travel.**

**Kurama is more Sassy? or something, less interruptive. **

**Fixed formatting for easier read, grammar, spelling errors.**

**Summaries of chapters. List of changes. **

**Chapter 1: Appearance change, old clothing too worn out. Naruto is drained by usage of time travel, lower lifeforce, chakra. Slowly recovers for x amount of days. Killer Bee also traveled back with Naruto. Meet's Konan, Figures out he's in wrong time, wrong place. Panic attack. **

**Chapter 2. Encounter's Konan, undertakes her as ally to bring peace. Go to town, it gets attacked. flee and meet with Yahiko. Yahiko's introduction is different.**

**Chapter 3. Nearly unchanged, Infiltrates town but does not take any jutsu. Naruto battles Mikoto, and flees. Naruto takes her sword, forgot to give it back. Mikoto learns shadowclone from him, with aid of her eyes.**

**Chapter 4. Nearly unchanged. Konan idly thinks about Naruto's goals. Mikoto reflects on lasts night's events, finds Naruto's back pack. Konan decides to join in on Naruto and Yahiko's dream. Naruto reflects on an occurrence with his father.**

**Chapter 5. Cave, Naruto teaches Konan how to cook. Starts teaching the two on how to access chakra. Shows them Sasuke's headband, that he still kept on himself. Konan makes him a paper crane. **

**Chapter 6. Nearly unchanged, only how Naruto rescues Mikoto. Mikoto runs into ambush, Finds Akira, stays behind. Fends them off before Akira returns, only to killed and herself captured. Naruto encounters the shinobi and rescues her.**

**Chapter 7:The most altered chapter out of all. Mikoto's and Naruto's exchange is drastically different. Recommend rereading.**

**Chapter 8: Same with Chapter 8 greatly altered, Mikoto and Naruto interact more, much differently than original. Recommend rereading.**

**Chapter 9: A new chapter.**

**Anyways, Enjoy**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Instead of further searching for Nagato, he really desired some place to sleep comfortably. So it was some time before he actually reached the cave where Yahiko and Konan stayed.

He was alright with them staying alone, they could take care of themselves, not to mention that there was plenty of food left. He bypassed through another small collection of houses that looked to be raided, otherwise there was nothing to be found around.

He was relieved when he finally reached it, the lack of sleep was wearing him down. He entered, seeing both Konan and Yahiko enjoying their lunch.

"Oh, you're back?" Yahiko noted.

He nodded, walking over to them and grabbing a handful of berries, some bread and chugging down some water. "Well, I'm just gonna sleep for a bit, been up for too long"

"Good night, um, I guess" Konan replied.

Otherwise, he plopped down on his bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

He was stirred from sleep with another irritating nudge on his shoulder. "Five more minutes" He mumbled.

It stopped, for now. Before starting again a short time later.

"It's been five minutes now"

It was over that fast?

"What is it?" He asked groggily.

"There's another boy here, with his little dog. "

His eyes plopped open, seeing the blue haired girl kneeling in front of him. "Who?" His mind racing wildly, which easily woke him up.

"Nagato, and his dog tiny"

His mind drew a blank for some reason. "A tiny dog?"

"No, his name is tiny"

He shook his head, perhaps in mild disbelief and a mixture of excitement, he laughed. Sitting up, he saw the skinny red haired boy. The rinnegan was hidden from view with the messy red hair he had. He sat crossed legged, a small dog nuzzling in his lap. Both were eating a stick of bread.

"Someone else to help us?" Naruto said,

Nagato looked up, and he could barely see the ripple of his eyes through his hair."Uh, sorry?"

Naruto gave a grin."Well, you're here right? If you're gonna stick around, then you gotta be willing to help us"

"With...With what?"

Naruto didn't expect such a timid sounding voice, he spoke low and almost fearfully. It was far cry from the last time he had seen him. He wondered when he would start cracking jokes. The small puppy yelped in his lap, biting into the piece of bread.

He didn't answer, as Yahiko began to speak. "Oh, you know, steal food, train, bring peace, nothing too hard"

"Peace? Uh, how?"

"How about one step at a time?" Yahiko settled. "First, we need to find a teacher, someone powerful. Naruto, the oldest one here, knows how to fight and he says he could teach us a few things"

Nagato looked at him, any notion of emotion was hidden by the curtain of hair. "You guys are friends?"

"Yeah, want to join?"

"...Okay"

"Great!" Naruto clapped his hands, filled with glee. "Now, how about we get you started?..."

* * *

><p>They were all fast learners, In the first few weeks since Nagato came. They were all able to access their chakra, just as natural as they could be. It was where he had gotten stuck, about what to teach them next. The academy days were rather hazy, with so many lost details. Hand signs, that was something he could teach them. He had already drawn the diagrams with the correct placements. His writing was getting better, but he was still somewhat rather slow. At least it looked good.<p>

"Here, learn these hand signs" As he handed them all pieces of paper that he had created.

Yahiko looked at the paper, turning it around repeatedly. His eyes trying to decipher the drawing. "Er, What's this supposed to be?"

"Like I said, hand signs"

Konan had another in her hands, twisting it around. "Naruto, I don't want to be mean but-"

"It's kinda crap" Yahiko interrupted.

He was horrified, he took the diagram, the artistic pride he felt suddenly crumbled away and the true appearance of the drawing came to light. It was fucking horrendous.

"What? I'm a shinobi, not an artist!" Then he remembered Sai, god, fuck him for being both.

He grumbled as he took the drawings he made away from them. The sympathetic look that Konan gave, as well as Yahiko's mocking smirk. Nagato only asked when they would learn, he grumpily replied when he got better or found some.

It was some days later when Naruto was overlooking the stock of supplies that they had left. It was quickly dwindling, with only enough to last a few days. He had been the one to gather the food, stealing mostly, but working for some pieces here and there. Konan and Yahiko had also been getting their own.

The task of obtaining supplies was also a nice little simulation of shinobi skills. Deception, stealth and quickness. Maybe others, but they couldn't come to mind. An idea came to him then, so he might as well plan for it.

"So, you want to put this into some sort of game?"Yahiko asked.

"Mission, you can call it" Naruto replied. He grabbed a stack of papers, it was just a small collection of vendors, stores and stuff. Along with a list of supplies needed, both went hand and hand. Some of the items were more difficult to obtain, some stores were harder to sneak in.

He had sent some shadow clones to just watch how the stores were being handled. Some watched their own stock themselves, or had an employee watching it. There was however, a guard stationed at a few, they were definitely more vigilant than the average employee.

"Let's see, you have twenty four hours, I'll be watching, and uh, I'll grade it? I guess?" He said rather awkwardly.

"You don't sound so sure of this" Konan said, sounding unsure.

"Because I don't really know how to much of this." Guess he'll have to make some sort of system.

"So you want us to collect these stuff on here?" Nagato voiced.

"Sure do, some of them are harder than others, but you'll get a better grade. The easier places to get into will get you less points, get the supplies" Damn, that sounded weird to even say. He didn't consider himself to the likes or Iruka or Kakashi, or the Pervy Sage. Then again, if an old perverse man could be like that, then he could too.

"Wouldn't we do better if we taught how to be a shinobi?" Yahiko replied, frowning.

He was almost stumped at the question, but luckily his quick thinking came to save him. "Yeah, but I also want you to see how much better you'll be when you do. Besides, I want to see your instincts and stuff"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense"

He hoped it did.

"How will you keep track of us?" Nagato asked quietly.

He felt a smirk, and created such a familiar seal, and a shadow clone popped up beside him. "With this, I could keep track of all you"

The slightly younger ones stared at him with awe."Alright, so get started, I'll be keeping watch. Also, I'll be grading you alone, er, individually"

Naruto would also likely fail them if they didn't act as a group, but they didn't need to know that. He watched them scramble for their empty bags, to fill with goods, their raincoats and other snacks for their robberies. Of course, when they became ninja, they wouldn't need to resort to petty thievery.

He followed them to town, he didn't say whether they could work alone or groups, but they were free to do as they wished. They talked idly for a while, until the gates of the village popped up. They all scattered, he was slightly dismayed that they started to work alone, but perhaps that would change in time.

He sent two other shadow clones to watch the other progress as he followed Nagato and his dog tiny. Nagato was overlooking to the list, and immediately was on his way. Undergoing a transformation, he kept hidden from view from Nagato, the red head occasionally looked around, no doubt wondering if he could be spotted.

He took a busy street that followed to a square of vendors. It was probably the more easier places to steal stuff off from. It wasn't too crowded today, so perhaps some difficulty might surface.

Nagato looked around, and edged himself closer to more of the busier sections, his loyal dog following in step. He dug into his pocket and seemingly counted the amount of money he had, before bending down to his dog.

Unheard words were spoken, as talked with his dog. He stepped to a vendor, a woman, not overly intimidating but not frail looking either. He was regarded with suspicion before he took out some ryo from his pocket, before some semblance of warmth appeared.

The vendor herself was selling some baked goods, wrapped in sealant. He handed the ryo for one, before Tiny approached the woman and licked her feet, calling for her attention. While she was momentarily distracted by giving a few pets, Nagato swiped several more and pocketed it. The woman was none the wiser as Nagato called for tiny and was on his way.

"Huh?"

The memories of a clone entered his head a few minutes later. It involved Yahiko, who had been walked out of a store by an employee, for trying to obviously trying to steal something. He had been scolded, but otherwise walked away victoriously with a canister of fuel he had hidden. Somehow.

Not too soon after, memories of Konan surfaced, she had been pick pocketing various people littered in crowded areas. She had nearly been caught, but was able to lie her way out with a excuse of them dropping their money.

"Huh." As he reviewed them. It wasn't exactly perfect, but they weren't shinobi just yet. Not only that, it hadn't exactly been the longest time since they started their mission. It was a nice start, with a few supplies knocked off the list.

He would just continue watching.

He felt bad for Nagato when he was thrown to the ground for getting caught stealing. He didn't need to get involved, as that was the extent of it. Nor did he think that he should get involved, they knew how to take care of themselves, but he also didn't want them to depend on him.

* * *

><p>Konan placed a cold wet rag to the side of her face, a black eye was already forming from when she was hit. Her pickpocket spree had ended with that. At least for today. Yahiko's clothes were wet, as he had lost his raincoat when he had to run away from an angry owner. Nagato was the least affected, but he also didn't grab as many supplies as the others.<p>

Speaking of which, they had enough to last several days, if they barely ate above minimum. From one day of gathering, stealing and buying.

"Well, you got until tomorrow until I give your grades" It was still weird as hell to even say. Maybe he shouldn't give as such. Fuck, this was all weird to begin with. "I'll just be outside alright?"

He got a few items and went outside, finding a tree that shielded him from the light misty rain. He sat down, but didn't really know what to do at the moment. So he dug into his tool bag and brought out his favorite.

Even though it was one of the only few books he had read, still, it counted.

A copy of, A Tale of Gutsy Shinobi. It was worn from use, signifying it's age. He had found it in a store before he left. The first one he had possessed had been at the memorial for his master.

He had already re-read the entire thing since coming here. It wouldn't be bad to do it again.

"Naruto?" A soft voice belong to Nagato roused him from his reading.

"Yo" He replied. Closing his books and looking up to Nagato standing in the rain."What's up?"

"I was wondering..." He went silent for a little. "You look like you know what you're doing, like you have everything figured."

"I seem that way huh?" He replied.

"Do, Do you mean you don't?"

He rubbed the nape of his neck. "Sort of, trying to achieve peace seems kinda hard doesn't it?"

"Yes, but, it's nice to think about..." Nagato said quietly.

He smiled. "Sure is, especially right now. You see, I try to do it in steps. First, I need a team, with similar goals..."

"And we're a team, but you need us to be a trained"

"Exactly" He replied, and Nagato only nodded as the silence kept on.

"So what if you don't know? How would you find the steps?"

"Hm?" He didn't think he was referring to his struggles on what to teach, or how to. "Well, you find it of course."

"Just like that?" Nagato said.

He wrapped his hands over his neck. "Well, depending on what you might be looking for, it might be easy, it might be hard. One day, though, you'll find it if you keep looking. It's what I think"

"Oh...Okay" Nagato replied as he stood there in the rain, he didn't seem to bother moving from his spot however. He decided to talk again.

"Do you know what a nindo is? It's about what a ninja follows, actually there's already one, like how you're supposed to be a weapon for your country, but never mind that trash. Anyways, I have one. Never going back on my words, and I know for sure that I'll follow through every single one. So that means peace is involved in that"

Nagato looked surprised, and nodded in thanks. His attention however, was brought to something else.

He could feel it, a pressuring chakra to the south, farther than the Rain country. It resonated within him, and he could Kurama stirring. He recognized it, the other Kurama that was placed inside his mother.

Momentarily distracted, Nagato's words failed to reach him. He rid himself from his thoughts but Nagato was already walking back to the cave. Only the unsettling feeling kept rising from the south.

Nagato didn't seem to feel it, perhaps the sensory types could. He did have a peculiar connection to the other fox. His gut twisted in worry as the force continued to rise. He stood up, his muscles taut and aching for movement. The thunder stirred, cracking the sky as if it could feel the energy of the greatest of the tailed beast.

He gasped for breath when reality came back to him. Kurama's chakra had waned, before settling down to near indistinguishable levels. That was his mother, and he couldn't help but feel the worry plague him.

Within the seal where Kurama was kept, the fox itself had its eyes open and focused. Ears at attention from the recent burst.

"...So, how many times have you tried to break out?" Naruto asked. Kurama turned to him, as he stood at the open gate.

"Plenty of times, it was harder than it was with you though"

"Because my seal was designed for your chakra to come through right?"

Kurama smiled, whenever it did just that it bared it's teeth. "I thought it was flaw, but your old man is clever. Your chakra can basically go to zero, but for Kushina, it's a bit different where she can't go near it, there would've been a danger of me breaking out."

There was silence as he thought about his mother, his village, his home.

"Y'know? I think when I find the old Pervy-sage I think it would a nice time to go the Hidden Leaf Village"

"Huh, Thought you wanted to stay with these three?" He asked.

"If I remember, Nagato said something about Yahiko dying several years after, so we got time"

"That's if we haven't changed much"

"Sure, but I think they'll be fine for a while. There's something else back at home too."

Kurama hummed, which sounded more like a low growl. Of course, he might have not noticed the difference. "Obito Uchiha"

"Yeah...I'm, I'm not sure what I'll do with him yet. Guess I'll just find out when it comes to it"

"Then maybe, you'll do something about the Uchiha"

He rubbed his neck. "Eh, I don't even know where to start. Maybe I'll take my own advice and start small"

He got an affirmative grunt, and Naruto knew that the conversation with Kurama had stalled. So, he sat back down and resumed where he started from with the book he had. There was still quite a few chapters where his favorite part was.

* * *

><p>He didn't follow the other three orphans this time. He probably should have done that the other day, to give them a bit of privacy. This time, they went towards a town that was a bit further away, nearly a hour away. He didn't give them a dossier for a different town. He guess he should write down some points for that.<p>

Wait, how many points should he put? Out of how many? Fuck, maybe he should not have power read through most of the book yesterday and instead concentrated on this.

When they reached the town, he couldn't help but smile when they stayed grouped together. He guessed he shouldn't be surprised, Nagato did say something about what the struggles they went through. Even his little thing about grading them individually didn't deter them.

They turned out okay without him. Except, y'know, Yahiko dying and Nagato turning out as he did. He had grown a bit attached to them, and he considered them friends.

He watched from a distance, seeing as Yahiko loudly complained about crap quality food as Konan and Nagato pocketed a few items to steal. Again, they worked together to steal from a vendor.

An hour before the time-limit ended, they ended up near a store settled in a building, the type that had more security but with higher quality items to sell. He was curious as to how they would do this.

They couldn't channel chakra in their movements, for higher speed and strength as well so many other benefits. All that was second nature to him, he never noticed doing it after a few months learning in the academy.

They spent their time loitering around the building, talking amongst themselves. He stared down below from atop the roof as they fiddled with rope down below. They tied across the length of the alley and marked it with a red can. They looked to other alleyways and did the same thing.

They returned to the store they found, talking a bit before Konan headed inside, moments later Yahiko trailing, and then for longer, Nagato rolling in. Tiny was left outside.

Naruto jumped down below to get a better look, the windows looked to be reinforced, with a 'We're open' sign posted. He could barely see through the cage that had been placed by the windows, but it was enough. The open door also gave a nice amount of view.

There was a guard standing by the door, sitting on a chair and looking at them suspiciously. Konan bought an item, a Popsicle, before standing in front of the guard. The guard 'himself' looked to be more of a employee.

She began chatting with him, and the guard seemed slightly disinterested, but otherwise not hostile. His vision slightly obscured, but it wasn't hard to see both boys were in the process of stuffing their pockets with goods.

The guard seemed to be alerted, the clerk standing by the counter pierced from out of the store with her voice. He could see Nagato started to rush to the exit. When the guard took a step to get a hold of him, Konan tripped him and he fell to the floor. Nagato sprinting out and heading through the trapped alleyway.

Naruto sent a shadow clone to follow.

Inside, Yahiko was being chased by the clerk, a frantic expression as was hit by a thrown brick. Konan was still stationed by the door, digging into her pocket, she flung mud at the clerk behind Yahiko. Blinding him temporarily. Yahiko threw a bag of goods at as they both bolted out of the store, following after the red haired boy.

* * *

><p>"So how did we do?" They asked.<p>

"Pretty good" As he sorted out the supplies they had stolen. There was a few missing items, luxuries mostly. They even got a water purifier, a hard item to replace.

"What about our grades?"

"Good"

"Just good?" Yahiko asked.

"Haven't really worked out the grades yet, but what matters most is the teamwork I saw. You guys got more stuff than yesterday when you all were alone."

They all seemed embarrassed by his announcement.

"Konan was the one who suggested it" Yahiko said. "She noticed you said nothing about teaming up"

"Yahiko came up with the plan" Nagato added.

"Nagato had came up with the traps" The blue haired girl said.

Naruto looked amusingly at them. The traps didn't need to be used, but it was a nice escape plan. Now what else should he teach them? Damn, now he had to think about that.

Still, he was looking forward to when the Pervy-sage came around. So that he could take over his lame and awkward attempts at teaching them.


End file.
